Reincarnation!
by bmidd111
Summary: Bethany Middleton didn't believe in reincarnation- heck, she didn't even believe that people had souls. But after dying and waking up as a baby Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, anyone would rethink their beliefs.
1. prolouge

_**Prologue: I'm Naruto?!**_

When 23 year old Bethany Middleton got hit by a car, she expected to wake up in the New System, or Paradise Earth, as was her religious belief. So when she came to, she did not expect to be looking into the smiling faces of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki. The former adult looked up at the faces of the Hidden Leaf Villages legendary Yellow Flash, and Fourth Hokage, if the white cloak with red flame motifs surrounding the bottom of it were any indication, and the Fiery red Habanaro, and blinked in shock.

' _Wha- what the HELL!'_ she thought. Kushina smiled gently, and cuddled her to her chest, "look, Minato, isn't our son beautiful?" she asked, looking up at her husband, who gently placed his hand on his wife's shoulder. _'Son?!'_ Bethany thought, completely confused now, as if she wasn't before. Minato smiled at the red-haired woman holding her, before turning his ocean blue eyes down to her, "he's the most wonderful baby in the world, and one day you're going to be just as strong, if not more so than your parents, aren't you, Naruto-Chan?" he asked, with a gentle loving smile on his face.

Bethany blinked once, twice, then fainted in shock.

 _ **Ȑ**_

When Naruto fainted, Minato immediately teleported to the doctors lounge. "I need a doctor now, my newborn son just fell unconscious!" he shouted. All the doctors immediately lunged to their feet, causing Minato to sweat drop, "uh, I only need one doctor" he said in a flat tone, his panic subsiding a little. A female medic-Nin who was sitting near the back of the room got to her feet, "I'll take a look at him" she said, moving to the front of the room to stand by the Hokage.

Already knowing the procedure, the woman put her arm around the Hokage's waist, as teleporting with the Flying Thunder God jutsu tended to make those who weren't used to it a bit dizzy. After making sure the doctor was holding on properly, Minato formed the hand seal to activate his first signature jutsu, and both he and the nurse disappeared in a yellow flash. After they disappeared, all female medic-Nin's in the room sighed. They knew their Hokage was taken, Kushina-San had made _sure_ of that, but damn, was he _hot_.

 _ **Ȑ**_

Back in Kushina's hospital room, said red-haired wife of the Hokage sat on her bed twitching in annoyance. She glanced at her son every few minutes, to make sure he wasn't in any pain or cold. He seemed fine, just unconscious. Suddenly her husband and a female Med-Nin appeared in the room with the usual yellow flash. Kushina huffed impatiently, "finally!" she exclaimed, as the woman walked up to the blond baby boy asleep in his crib next to his mother.

Gently picking the baby up and removing his blanket to have access to his small body, she placed two fingers on his chest and ran her chakra through the child's body. The boy's eyes snapped open immediately, and he let out a gurgled noise that sounded like a giggle. The nurse smiled gently, guessing it must be tickling him. The woman's brow furrowed, however, when the results of her scan became known to her. Removing her hand and placing the child down in his little hospital bed, the Medic turned to the panicked face of Kushina and the misleadingly calm face of Minato, and took a deep breath. What she was about to say would shake the new parents to the core. "Namikaze-Sans, it seems that your baby boy is actually a girl".

 _To Be Continued_


	2. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1: New home?**_

It had been one month since Naruto had been born, or rather, since Bethany had been reborn as Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze. After finding out that she was a girl, The two new parents had taken to calling their daughter "Naruko" in secret, well, at least until she was old enough to make up her own mind and "come out" to the public. Unbeknown to Minato and Kushina, their new daughter didn't mind being a Tomboy.

And today, Bethany was finally getting out of the hospital. As they walked through the Hidden Leaf Village, Bethany was looking around herself in excitement and wonder. She had always wanted to visit the Leaf Village. It was so big and awesome! It was as if the Nine Tails- Bethany immediately stopped her very limited exploring of the village. Oh shit! Kurama! Was he sealed inside her, or was the giant fox still sealed inside her new mother?

She would have entered her mindscape immediately if an unresponsive newborn baby wouldn't have caused panic to her new parents. So, Bethany decided to wait until they got home, wherever that was. At least that way she would get to see the rest of the village on the way to her new home, not to mention she was really looking forward to seeing the Fourth Hokage's house- _her_ new house. A few minutes later they arrived at a medium sized house that was raised above the ground.

It was fairly apartment-like, the outside walls being white, the roof was brown, and eaves spread over all the edges of the building, like a square sun-hat. There were also a few wires hung against the outside walls under the eaves, probably TV cables or something. All-in-all it seemed like a very humble home from the outside. But she was curious about the inside. Minato, along with Kushina who was carrying her, approached the house. As they came up to the door, Bethany watched with interest as Minato formed several hand signs, bit his thumb and wiped the blood on the door.

When the seals that were protecting the house began to glow red, the 23 turned 0 year old felt her eyes widen in amazement at just _how many_ seals were on the house. It seemed that Minato took his family's protection _very_ seriously. After the glow from the seals died down, Minato took the handle and opened the door of the house. Bethany felt herself smile as she took in the humble surroundings. It also seemed her new parents were defiantly not the type to stick out, Hokage and his wife or not. There was a green couch in the Living room that looked like it could comfortably fit three people. A bookcase sat on the wall next to it, filled to the brim with books.

Bethany was looking forward to looking through them as soon as she learned to read Japanese. As it was she had picked up the language perfectly. Walking past the Living room, Minato and Kushina walked up a short set of stairs. As they went down the upstairs hallway, Bethany began to become excited. Finally, she was going to see her bedroom. She wondered what it would look like. When Minato opened the door to her room the three of them walked inside. The walls were bright orange, but they were going up in different shades. Painted in the top left corner of the room was a ball of bright yellow, which obviously represented the sun. On the roof, and in stark contrast to the warm colours on the walls around them, was a dark blue, with painted stars and a full moon, all shining a glowing silver.

The floor of the room was a carpet coloured dark green, like grass, and in the corners and in random spots around the walls, were wooden painted trees, to give the impression that she was sleeping in a deep green forest while the sun was quietly setting and the night sky had already replaced the day. All-in-all, a beautiful and mysteriously decorated bedroom. And it was all hers! Thinking about her bedroom, got Bethany thinking about her bedroom down at Durack that she had before they moved. Her Daddy had made it all by hand, painted the whole thing, but then they had moved. She became suddenly less enthusiastic. She missed her Mummy and Daddy. Minato smiled, "well, this is your new bedroom, Naruko, what do you think?" he asked. Kushina looked down at her daughter, and gasped at the look in her eyes.

"Naruko-Chan?" she asked worriedly. The baby was staring out into space with such a look of loss on her face that both Minato and Kushina began to worry. Bethany was lost in her memories for a moment, before, "Naruko-Chan!" Bethany woke up to Kushina's cry. The baby looked up at her Kaa-Chan, blinking her big bright blue eyes at her. Minato frowned, and looked at his daughter, "Naruko?" he asked worriedly. Bethany turned to her Tou-Chan, looking up innocently. Suddenly, she yawned deeply. Kushina chuckled, "well, it looks like someone is tired, huh?" she asked, smiling at her daughter. In the corner was a small cot, with Orange coloured sheets, and it was in this that Kushina laid her daughter. The red-haired woman gently placed her baby daughter in the cot and covered her with the sheets.

Minato walked up behind her, and placed his hand on the bars of the cot, "have a good sleep, our precious daughter" he said, looking at her with a smile. Bethany looked at the faces of her new parents one last time, before falling fast asleep. Both parents chuckled, before leaving the room to let her sleep.

 _ **Ȑ**_

Unknown to her new parents, Bethany wasn't just sleeping. The newly turned boy, had decided to go have a chat with a certain Tailed Beast sealed inside her body. When the young woman awoke in her mindscape, she was surprised to find that she looked like herself, and she was 23 again. Guessing it must be because this was how she knew herself to be, Bethany looked around at the sewer that her mindscape was. The young woman wrinkled her nose in disgust. Seriously, who has a _sewer_ for a mindscape? Well, apparently, Naruto does.

But, since this was _her_ mind now- Bethany concentrated, and she was suddenly standing in a lush green forest, with flowers all around her. Bethany smiled, and began her search for the giant Tailed Beast which her new father may or may not have been forced to seal into her. When she came upon the Nine Tails cage, she gasped. Standing before her was a giant cage, the bars being made of trees, and the giant Kanji for _seal_ carved on the one in the middle. Bethany gulped, she could do this. She just had to remember the basics, Kurama was filled with rage and hate after being sealed away for so long, so she had to be respectful. "Um, e-excuse me, Kyuubi Kurama-Sama!?" she called, secretly hoping the fox wouldn't respond.

Two giant red eyes opened and settled on her slightly shaking form. And slowly from out of the darkness of his wooden cage, he appeared, Kyuubi No Kurama. Bethany gasped, he was much larger in real-life than she ever thought. "What do you want brat? Who are you?" he growled, all nine of his tails swishing in agitation. The young woman steeled her nerve, and decided to try and play it safe, "my name is Bethany, Kyuubi-Sama, and I am you new Jinchuriki" she said bowing slightly. The great Biju frowned, "weren't you blond before, brat, and for that matter, a boy?" he asked in confusion. Bethany straightened, "well, you see, I actually was a girl before all of this, I was the same age you see me as now, 23, and I wasn't living in this world" Bethany took a deep breath, and prepared herself for the hard part, "but then I died, and woke up here in this world as the new born son of the Fourth Hokage and his wife" The great fox lay down and crossed his paws in front of him, laying his head down on them, "well then brat, what do you intend to do now?" he asked. Bethany shrugged, "guess I'll just live my new life to the fullest, and become the greatest ninja I can" she said, also sitting down on the grass. Bethany stared up at the Kyuubi, "you know Kurama, you and I don't necessarily have to be enemies," she said, plucking one of the flowers and examining it.

Kurama quirked an eyebrow, "what do you mean?" he asked. Bethany smiled and looked up at him, "well, have any of your previous Jinchuriki ever tried to get to know you, or even engaged you in a civil conversation before?" she asked. Kyuubi frowned, "what are you getting at, brat?" he asked. Bethany grinned, before getting up and walking inside the row of trees that represented the seal. Looking up at the great fox, she said "what I mean Kurama, is that, if you don't mind, I would really like to be your friend" she explained. Kurama looked taken aback, "f-friend, why would you-?" then he stopped and snarled at her, "if you are trying to trick me, let me tell you now brat, it won't work, I-" he was stopped mid-sentence as Bethany interrupted him, "I'm not trying to trick you Kyuubi, and I know that it wasn't your fault that you attacked the village," Kurama seemed interested now, "you were being controlled, and I know by who" she said.

Suddenly Bethany felt someone on the outside trying to wake her up, "sorry, Kurama, I need to wake up now, or my new parents will get worried, but don't worry, I'll come back later, okay?" she said, before everything went black.

 _ **Ȑ**_

Bethany opened her eyes and yawned, only to come face to face with Kushina, who smiled at her. "Hey their sleepy head, it's lunch time!" she said happily picking up her daughter, and revealing her nipple. Bethany latched herself onto Kushina and started to suck. It was strange, Bethany never actually imagined herself doing this. She mentally shrugged. She supposed it came with being born so small in her first life. Well, she had a lot to do in the coming years, may as well enjoy the rest while she could.

 _To Be Continued_


	3. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2: play date**_

At two years old, Bethany was excited to be going somewhere other than the park, Hospital or her home. Yes, today Bethany and Kushina were visiting the Uchiha clan compound. Specifically, Kushina was meeting up with her long time friend Mikoto Uchiha, and brought Bethany along to meet and play with the two sons of the Uchiha clan head. After they entered the compound, which Bethany mentally remarked was _huge_ , they were led by the Uchiha guards to the house of the head of the clan.

It seemed that Fugaku himself was out that day, which suited Bethany just fine. Truth be told, Sasuke and Itachi's father scared her a little. When the black-haired woman that Bethany recognised as Mikoto carrying a two year old Sasuke in her arms, and holding a seven year old Itachi by the hand, came out of a door and started to approach them, Bethany beamed at the two boys. She was defiantly excited. When both mothers stopped just in front of each other, Mikoto bowed, "thanks for taking the time to come here, Kushina, both Itachi and Sasuke have been very excited about this ever since I told them, Sasuke doesn't have many friends" she said, looking down at the two year old boy in her arms.

Sasuke was staring at Bethany's blond hair. He'd never seen hair that bright before and was transfixed by it. Bethany on the other hand was thinking just how cute the littlest Uchiha was when he made a face like that. Kushina smiled, "Naruto-Chan, do you want to go play with Sasuke-Chan and Itachi-Chan while Kaa-Chan talks with Miko-Kaa-Chan?" Bethany looked up at Kushina, "yes Kaa-Chan" she replied, walking up to Sasuke and Itachi, "let's go, Sasu-Chan, 'chi-Chan!" she squealed excitedly. Itachi actually blushed at being called 'chi-Chan' and the three of them ran off together, to play under the watchful eyes of their mother's.

Mikoto giggled, "Well, he certainly has a lot of energy!" she exclaimed, as she watched the Hokage's son run and play with her two boys. Kushina smiled, "yes, he sure does" she said as she watched her daughter laughing and running around. Right now the three of them were playing Tag. Bethany had just found Sasuke, but Itachi was proving harder to catch, despite being only three years older than her physical body. However, having a 23 year olds mind did have its advantages. _'Hmmm, if I were Itachi, where would I hide?'_ she wondered in her mind. Sitting in a tree not too far from her, Itachi smiled, it didn't seem like the boy would be able to find him.

Suddenly, Bethany smiled innocently, and looked up and straight at Itachi. Before the black-haired boy had time to move away, the most incredible thing happened: The blond boy disappeared in a puff of smoke. Needless to say this not only startled Itachi, but both mother's watching the game. Kushina blinked, _'that was the Multi Shadow Clone jutsu, but Naruko shouldn't know that, or have the chakra levels to- okay, I guess she does have the Uzumaki chakra levels and the Kyuubi to keep her topped up, but still, how did she learn it?'_ Itachi was looking all around for the blond-haired Uzumaki, when suddenly: "ha! Got ya!" Naruto jumped up right in front of the surprised Uchiha.

Itachi was so surprised that he fell out of the tree. Naruto gasped, and jumped down to him, as Mikoto and Kushina ran up, "'chi-Chan, are you alright?" Naruto asked, as he helped the boy off the ground. Mikoto ran up then, "Itachi, are you okay?" she asked worriedly, checking her son's body to see if he'd injured himself. "I'm alright Kaa-San" he said, then turned to the three year old boy, staring at him with worried eyes, "'chi-Chan?" he asked, timidly. Itachi smiled, "I'm alright, Naruto-Kun" he said. Suddenly, Naruto's stomach roared, and he put his hand over it, "eh, I'm hungry, can we have Ramen?!" he asked, looking up at the two adults with shiny eyes. Kushina giggled at her daughters antics.

She may have been a young genius at home, but both Minato and herself had long since discovered that the girl often acted like an idiot or a looser around other people for some reason that they couldn't figure out. But in fact the girl was a young prodigy and genius, much like Itachi. About five months ago, Minato had found the girl sitting in his jutsu library, reading scrolls on some of the most advanced seals he had at the house. Naruko had already mastered the tree climbing exercise, and, despite her incredible amount of chakra, she had near perfect chakra control for someone her age.

Kushina smiled, "well, that depends on Miko-Kaa-Chan, she's the one making lunch" Naruto looked up at her mother's best friend with sparkly eyes, "pleeeeeease?" she begged. Mikoto laughed, "yes, alright" she said, still giggling slightly. Mikoto led her best friend along with the three boys through her house and into the Dining room. As Mikoto prepared lunch, Sasuke continued to stare at Naruto's hair. It was so bright and looked so soft, he _had_ to touch it, just once. Bethany flinched slightly when she felt a soft tug at her hair. Turning around as only a ninja can, so you couldn't tell she was looking, the girl saw Sasuke gently pulling at her hair with a look of wonder on his face. Bethany almost melted at the sight.

Long ago she had tossed up the idea of growing her hair out, or even of growing side bangs like her Tou-Chan, but had decided against it, at least for now. Just like how she had decided against changing her wardrobe from that of the "Naruto" she knew- for now. Sure, bright orange wasn't exactly what she would call _stealthy_ , but it was Naruto's outfit, so she would wear it. Also it helped to guide the image of being an incompetent idiot. She couldn't wait to see the faces of the villagers when she started acting like a genius like her father. But back to the issue at hand. The girl was seriously struggling here. Sasuke at this age was melt-in-your-mouth adorable, and she had to physically hold herself back from cuddling him right then and there, or letting out a very girly: awwwww!

Thankfully she was saved by said black-haired boy's mother, "lunch is ready!" she exclaimed happily, bringing two steaming bowls of Ramen to the table, one for Kushina, and one for her son. Bethany turned back to the table, almost literally drooling at the mouth at the scent of ramen, "domo arigatogozimashita, Miko-Kaa-Chan" she said politely, before breaking her chopsticks apart and literally _inhaling_ the noodles. Both woman, and even Itachi chuckled at the sight. Sasuke, on the other hand was wondering just where the hell all that food went to, in a less liberal manner of course. After finishing her bowl, Bethany wiped her mouth on the napkin placed on the table next to her bowl.

The blond boy grinned, and it seemed to light up the whole room. Sasuke blushed slightly, what was this warm feeling in his chest? Bethany subtly noticed this, and mentally slapped her forehead, _'oh, great, he's not going to become gay or something is he?'_ After a few more hours of playing together, it was time to go home. As Bethany and Kushina were walking away from the Uchiha compound, Sasuke turned to his Mother and said: "Kaa-San, Naru-Chan makes me feel warm inside my chest".

 _ **Ȑ**_

That night, Bethany slept peacefully inside her cot, not even for one second imagining that the events of the day were causing a certain mother to worry that her son was now a Homosexual, and the implications of such a development to the future of the Uchiha clan as a whole.

 _To Be Continued_


	4. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3: kidnapping attempt?!**_

It had been three months since Bethany's visit to the Uchiha compound, and the young Namikaze was sound asleep in her cot, cuddling a small red nine tailed fox plushy that her Kaa-Chan had made for her. It was Midnight in the Namikaze household, and so both parents were also asleep. No one noticed the shadow slip across the roofs of the building nearest to the youngest Uzumaki Namikaze's window. The hidden Shinobi knew that there were seals all over the house to stop intruders from getting in from the outside.

But he also knew that he could by-pass these seals if he used the intangibility jutsu (note: this is a jutsu that I made up). The masked ninja formed a set of hand seals, and simply walked through the wall, completely bypassing the complicated sealing formulas written everywhere that would allow him to be detected getting into the house. All but one. There was a hidden seal under the bed that was to be Bethany's in a few years that had been set up to recognise any pre-programmed chakra signature that entered the child's bedroom, such as Jiriya, or Kakashi, but would alert Minato immediately if any chakra signature that the seal didn't recognise came into the room. And so, this seal, hidden from prying eyes, glowed deep red, as if to warn of the coming danger to his life that the kidnapper was about to face.

Walking up to the child's crib, and smirking to himself about how _easy_ it had been to get into the bedroom of the Fourth Hokage's son, the unknown Shinobi peered at the child that was his assigned target. Spiky blond hair with three whisker-like lines running across each cheek. There was no doubt. This was the target, Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, the only son of the Forth Hokage and Yellow Flash of the Leaf Village. The man grinned, and formed a set of hand seals, whispering the name of the Jutsu under his breath: _"Temple of Nirvana jutsu"_ Suddenly it seemed like white feathers appeared out of nowhere, and fell upon the child, who's breaths evened out into a slow steady rhythm, indicating that the hypnotic sleeping Genjutsu that he had just used had started to take effect.

The mysterious kidnapper picked up the small boy, who barely came up to half the height of his lower leg, and jumped out the window with his prize in his arms.

 _ **Ȑ**_

Unbeknown to his host's kidnapper, there was one witness to his actions. The great fox, Kyuubi no Kurama had been watching from inside Bethany's mind, and saw everything. Being the strongest of the Biju, he had a reputation to keep, and he'd be damned if he let some bastard no-name ninja kidnap _his_ friend. Yes, after thinking over the talk he'd had with the girl, he decided that, yes, he would like to be friends with Bethany (not that he'd ever admit it out loud to anyone but her). Pushing his chakra through the girl's body, Bethany woke up with a jolt.

At first she was disorientated, she had no idea where she was or what was going on. After noticing the trees flashing by under her dangling legs (which seemed to be very high off the ground), and feeling the arm which carried her as a very slim one, the girl deduced two conclusions, one: her Kaa-Chan had decided to take her for a walk outside at night time, which was very unlikely, or two: she had been kidnapped! Which was much more likely. Twisting her body so she could see the one who was stupid enough to try and kidnap her right under her parent's noses, the girl caught sight of dirty blond hair, and grey eyes that were as hard as steel, staring ahead with no remorse or mercy. Unfortunately, the man carrying her noticed this, because he smirked sweetly at her. Bethany, of course, could immediately see the cruelty behind his eyes, and wasn't fooled for a second. "Well, well, look who's awake, you'd best behave now brat, your life is in my hands, and I'm sure _he_ would want you back in one piece" he chuckled ominously, causing shivers to run up and down Bethany's spine.

Seeing that the boy was glaring at him, the ninja chuckled again, and jumped to another tree branch. Bethany turned away from him, well, she never was one to just sit quietly while she was kidnapped, and though it had never happened in her first life, her original parents had taught her what to do. Drawing in as deep a breath as she could muster, Bethany screamed louder than she ever had before. The man holding her growled, "hey, shut up brat!" he hissed at her, trying to cover her mouth with his hand. However, Bethany was ready for this, and bit down on the offending appendage as soon as it came into range. The man cried out in pain and swore, "ahh, damn you, little bastard!" he screamed, and threw the girl to the ground in an attempt to get her off him.

As soon as she hit the ground, Bethany was off and running. However, she didn't get far as a tanto was suddenly lodged in her upper thigh, pinning her to a tree, as she screamed in agony. However it didn't end there, for the short sword had been infused with Lightning chakra, and this burned through her body like liquid fire. If you've never been electrocuted before, then trust me, you don't want to know how it felt. Bethany tried to get the blade out of her leg in order to run again, but ninja wire quickly wrapped itself around her body, pushing her closer to the tree, and cutting off her movement.

In her peripheral vision, she saw her kidnapper move closer her immobilized form. Kneeling down beside her, the man pouted, "don't worry Gaki-Chan, soon you won't feel a thing, and you'll be in your new home before you know it" he said in a mockingly childish tone. Bethany tried to turn her head and glare at the man, but this was admittedly difficult with electricity shooting through her nerves. Suddenly a voice called through the trees, "touch my son again and I'll make you wish you had never been born!" Bethany turned her head as much as she was able and saw her father, mother and about twenty ANBU, including who she recognised as Kakashi by the silver gravity defying hair standing not too far away from them in the trees.

The man immediately became afraid, "th-the Y-yellow flash!" he stuttered in fear, trying to move away, but found himself surrounded by about fifteen more ANBU on the ground. The fight, needless to say, was short and painful, for Bethany's kidnapper that is. Once the man was safely in the custody of the ANBU, and already looking like he had been through one of Ibiki's torture sessions, both parents ran up to their daughter, cut her loose, and teleported immediately to the Hospital, courtesy of Minato's Flying Thunder God jutsu. Fortunately for her young body, Bethany passed out just as they were leaving.

 _ **Ȑ**_

When Bethany woke up again, she was standing in front of the wooden tree-bars of Kurama's seal. As she watched, the great Kitsune emerged into view, swishing his mighty tails in what seemed like worry, "that was too damn close brat, we could have been toast!" he boomed, shaking the imaginary leaves on the trees. Bethany smiled, "but we weren't- thanks to you, Kurama" she said happily, "thank you, you really saved me" she said with a bow to her Tailed Beast. It could have been her imagination, but for a moment, it seemed like the giant fox actually blushed, "well, we're friends aren't we? Besides, I'm no one's _tool_ " he spat the word as if it were poison. Bethany's smile widened a fraction, "I know Kyuubi, and you don't have to worry, I'll never treat you, nor will I ever think of you as a tool, let alone my tool," she closed her eyes, "after all, we are friends, you are a person and you have rights just like any other" she said, opening her eyes.

Kurama huffed, "damn straight!" Bethany giggled slightly at the giant fox's antics. Suddenly she felt a pulling sensation in the back of her mind. Bethany looked up apologetically at her Biju, "sorry, Kurama, I've got to go, I'm sure that with everything that's happened recently, that if I don't wake up soon, Kaa-Chan and Tou-Chan will start to panic" she said. Kurama waved a paw at her dismissively, "go on, do what you have to do, I'm thinking I'll catch up on some sleep now anyway" he said with a yawn, arching his back, and stretching his tails and front paws in a way that made him look suspiciously like a cat. Bethany waved goodbye to the Kyuubi as she vanished from her mindscape.

 _ **Ȑ**_

Bethany woke up slowly to see the worried faces of her parents hovering over her. Trying and failing to blink the sleep out of her eyes, (she was _not_ a morning person, and the fact that Naruto wasn't either only added to her problems). The Two year and Three Month old child yawned deeply, slurring her words as she tried to speak, "morn'n Tou-Chan, Kaa-Chan *yaaaawn*" Kushina's eyes immediately filled with tears, and she wrapped her arms around her daughters small body in a tight but gentle hug (confused?). "Oh, Naruko, we were so worried about you, are you alright?" she asked. Bethany frowned slightly, "Kaa-Chan, Tou-Chan, I have to say something" she said, sounding very serious for a Two year and Three month old. The red-haired woman holding her pulled back, and Minato came up to stand next to her, "what is it, Naruko-Chan?" he asked. Bethany closed her eyes and sighed deeply, before opening them and staring at her parents with such a look of sorrow that they began to get worried.

"I'm sorry," she said after a moment, causing both parents to frown in confusion, but they didn't interrupt her, "it just occurred to me that I've never actually told either of you that 'I love you' before, and I just wanted you to know that even though I've never said it, that doesn't mean that I don't love you, you're the best parents in the world, and the fact that you know that I'm a girl in this body, and yet you've already accepted it, just makes it all the clearer," Bethany took a breath, licked her lips and continued, "last night made me realise just how important both of you are to me, if you weren't here, I don't think I could handle it- I really do love you, you're both my most precious people, and I'm grateful for everything you've done for me," she said, tears now freely falling down her face, "thank you,-thank you,- thank you-" she was interrupted by both Minato and Kushina wrapping their arms around her once more in warm, gentle embrace.

"You're welcome" they both said together, with smiles on their faces. That morning it was just the three family members sitting together basking in the glow of the rising sun, and the love they shared for one another. And Bethany was happy.

 _To Be Continued_


	5. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4: Pervy Sage or Jiriya Jiji?**_

A few days after the kidnapping attempt on Bethany, the Namikaze household had a guest. Bethany was sitting in the living room on the couch, her little legs dangling over the edge and reading a book on Time/space Ninjutsu, while Kushina worked on some sewing. Minato, being the Hokage, was at work today, and so, it was just the two of them. Suddenly the peace was shattered by a loud boom and crash just outside the Living room window.

Startled, Kushina ran to the window, afraid that someone had tried to attack the house in an attempt to kidnap her daughter again. Thankfully what she saw calmed her immediately. It was a giant toad, and on its back was a white haired sage that she knew very well. "Thanks, Gamahiro!" the man exclaimed, jumping off the giant amphibians back to the window sill. He nodded to Kushina, who stood aside to let him in with a smile, "well, we were wondering when you'd come and visit us, Jiriya Sensei" she said, turning to close the window, as the toad who'd brought the Sanin there disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Jiriya grinned, "hey, Kushina-Chan, you look nice today" he said. Kushina gave him a knowing look, "try anything and you won't be walking for two weeks" she warned, to which the pervert just sweat-dropped. The white-haired sage turned to look around the room, catching sight of Naruto sitting on the couch reading. "Hey kid, remember me?" he asked walking over to him. Bethany just looked up from her book with a blank stare, "Kaa-Chan's right you know, and if you touch her in any way shape or form that's inappropriate, I'll put you in the hospital myself, Jiriya Jiji, or is that Pervy Sage? I'm still not sure which one to call you" she said in a flat tone. Jiriya blanched, and Kushina laughed, "that's my boy!" she said between giggles.

 _ **Ȑ**_

While Kushina made Ramen for lunch, Jiriya tried to start up a conversation with Naruto, "so kid, what ya reading?" he asked, leaning over the book to get a better look at the type. Bethany turned to him and smiled, "it's called "advanced theory of time/space Ninjutsu, practical edition" she said, turning a page to continue reading. Jiriya smiled, "time/space Ninjutsu, huh? You know your father uses that to teleport with his special kunai" he told her. Bethany smiled, and turned to the toad sage, "yeah, I know, it's a pretty awesome jutsu, I'm hoping that one day he'll teach it to me too" she said, and grinned excitedly.

Jiriya looked down at the small two year and three month old next to him, "hey, if you want, you know I could probably teach you some things about seals while your fathers working" Bethany's eyes seemed to light up, "really, you'd really teach me sealing?" she asked excitedly. The white-haired man nodded. Kushina came in holding four bowls of Ramen, "you know, I could probably teach you a thing or two about seals if you want as well" she said with a smile, as she placed the bowls down on the table. Just then Minato appeared at the front door via Flying Thunder God jutsu. "Oh, Jiriya Sensei, I didn't expect to see you here today" he said happily when he came into the room. Jiriya waved cheerily, "well, I haven't really come to visit for a while, so I thought I'd come to see how you all were, especially after I heard what happened two days ago to the Gaki here" he explained, pointing over his shoulder at the boy sitting next to him on the couch with a pout on his face.

Bethany huffed, and crossed her arms "you're calling me a brat when you still get scolded by Sandamine-Sama for peeping on the women's Bathhouse?" she deadpanned. This caused her parents to burst out laughing, while Jiriya hung his head. Getting caught out by his aging sensei was bad enough, but getting reprimanded by a two year old was just plain degrading. If this kept up, his reputation would be shot to hell!

 _ **Ȑ**_

As the four people sat around the table eating ramen, Bethany thought about what would happen in the future. She knew that in one year or so Hinata Hyuuga would be kidnapped by the ambassador for the Cloud village on her third Birthday, when the man would come to the village under the pretence of signing a peace treaty. She also knew that in about five years time the Uchiha clan would attempt a Coup d'état and try to take over the village, which would result in Itachi being ordered by the bastard Danzo to kill his entire clan, sparing only little Sasuke.

This would in turn result in turning cute Sasu-Chan into a revenge obsessed traitor, who spends the next few years of his life trying to kill the very man who loved him so much that he lied to him all in order to try and restore the honour of his dark clan. Too bad she was already too late to save Obito from becoming Tobi then Madara. So much to change, and no idea at all how to start. Bethany sighed, and stretched, "I'm finished Kaa-Chan" she said, picking up her bowl and taking it into the kitchen. Kushina smiled, "alright, Jiriya Sensei, why don't you two go for a walk in the village?" Bethany thought about it for a few minutes, then she smiled, "sure, okay" she said happily.

 _ **Ȑ**_

After getting dressed in a white shirt with a red Uzumaki spiral on the front, a long sleeved green undershirt and black shorts, Bethany left the house with her father's former sensei. The two walked together through the hustle and bustle of the village, watching all the sights and activity going on around them. The young girl breathed in the peace all around her, wishing it could last forever. But she knew it wouldn't, and she also knew that she was the child of prophecy now and whether she liked it or not, she was the only one who could bring peace to this world.

Jiriya smiled as he watched the familiar activities going on in the village he loved. He wished this time of peace wouldn't ever have to end. Unknown to him, the girl holding his hand was having the exact same thoughts. When they got to the park, Bethany ran off to the play equipment, Jiriya watching with a soft smile on his face.

 _ **Ȑ**_

Bethany ran to the slide, and was about to climb up the ladder, when she heard a soft sob. Pausing, she followed the sound, until she came to a group of girls. There were four of them, three were talking to a small girl with short pink hair. Wait- pink hair? It must have been Sakura. The girl had her hair covering her forehead, and falling into her eyes. "Hey forehead girl, are you listening to us, you don't belong here, so get lost!" one girl with short bright blue hair with three sea green highlights in the sides and pulled into two small bunches said to Sakura, who's eyes were shining with unshed tears. Upon hearing the other girl's words, Sakura burst into tears, big ones falling down her face as she whimpered and trembled in fear.

Not seeing Ino anywhere, Bethany walked up to the group, "hey, leave her alone already!" she called. The other girls turned around to see who had called out to them, to see a dumb looking boy with spiky blond hair, bright blue eyes and three whisker lines on each cheek. One of the girls snorted, she had short black hair down to her shoulders, cut into to be spiky down the bottom, and slightly fanned out. Her eyes were silver, "oh, and what you gona do?" she said, crossing her arms with an annoyed stare. The main girl with the green striped hair pushed her to the ground, "go 'way, you're 'noying" she said, turning back to Sakura.

"Naruto, you okay!" Jiriya said, appearing next to the downed girl and helped her up. Then he turned a disapproving stare to the three girls who had pushed her and bullied Sakura, "I suggest you leave now before I tell the Hokage how you treated his son" he said, crossing his arms over his chest. The other girls paled, "Hokage's son?" they asked, looking at Bethany closer. Upon fully noticing the spiky blond hair and blue eyes the boy had, the same hair and eyes of the village leader, the three bullies left without a word. Bethany glared at their retreating backs, but hearing the muffled sob of the crying girl in front of her, went up to Sakura, and pulled out a tissue.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked softly. Sakura opened her tear-filled eyes and stared at the boy in front of her. Bethany smiled, "here, take it" she said, holding out the tissue to the pink-haired girl. Sakura looked at the tissue and gently took it from the boy's hand, drying her eyes, and blowing her nose, before handing it back to Bethany and taking the offered hand. Helping Sakura up, Bethany smiled, "my name's Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, what's yours?" she asked, smiling softly. Sakura smiled back weakly, "'m Sakura" she said shyly. Bethany beamed at her, "Sakura, want to come play with me?" she asked. Sakura blushed, but gave a small nod. Bethany took her hand and they ran off to play together, with the white-haired Toad Sage watching them with a smile on his face.

To Be Continued


	6. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 5: New Friends!**_

Bethany and Sakura played together until a blond haired girl, who Bethany recognised as Ino, came up to them and Sakura said goodbye to Bethany and ran off with Ino. Bethany smiled, she was glad that she could help the people who needed it most. After the two girls left, Bethany walked around the playground to see who else was around. Walking closer to the forested area of the park, Bethany heard a slight sound in the bushes.

Deciding to go see who was there, the two year old walked through the bushes, until she came upon a boy with short spiky brown hair crouching behind a bush watching some Ants crawl along the ground in front of him. He was wearing very covering clothes, and had goggles over his eyes that were so dark that she couldn't see his eyes. _'Shino'_ she thought. After thinking for a moment, Bethany walked over to the boy, "hello, I'm Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, what's your name?" she asked. Shino flinched as if he didn't expect anyone to talk to him. Looking up he saw that it was indeed the Hokage's son standing in front of him.

"My name is Shino Aburame, heir to the Aburame clan, and you are the Hokage's son, are you not?" he said in his usual monotone. Bethany grinned, "that's right, the Hokage is my Tou-Chan, it's nice to meet you Shino-Kun" she said, holding out her left hand. Shino quirked an eyebrow, "you wish to touch me? Are you not repulsed by my companions?" he asked, and as if to explain what he meant, several insects crawled out of his coat sleeve, and flew around him. Bethany shrugged, "honestly, I don't really mind insects, as long as they're not the bitey kind or the kind with itchy legs- or spiders, I hate spiders, even though I know they are Arachnids and not insects, I can't stand spiders of any kind except Daddy-Long Legs spiders" she said nonchalantly, but shivered at the end.

Shino looked at Bethany's hand once again, before slowly reaching out his hand and taking Bethany's in his own. Bethany grinned widely, "do you want to be my friend?" she asked. Shino stared at her for a moment, before nodding slowly, "yes, I would like that very much Naruto-Kun" he said.

 _ **Ȑ**_

Jiriya watched as his Godson made friends with various children. First was the pink-haired girl, now the Aburame boy. After a few minutes, the Uchiha boys entered the park with their mother. Upon noticing Naruto, Sasuke ran up to him enthusiastically, his older brother following close behind. The white-haired man smiled, at least Naruto was making friends. He was sure Minato and Kushina would be happy to find that he wasn't alone.

 _ **Ȑ**_

Bethany laughed happily as she ran around with Sasuke and Itachi. Shino was watching quietly from the sidelines, saying that he didn't want to take the possibility of harming his companions. Right now, Bethany and Sasuke were playing tickle tag. It was just like regular tag, except, if you were caught, the one who tagged you got to tickle you for the same amount of minutes as your age. Sasuke leapt on Bethany, pinned her arms above her head, and tickled her under her arms mercilessly. As the blond boy laughed uncontrollably, Sasuke felt his face heat up at the flushed look on Bethany's face. He was so, so- Sasuke couldn't even describe the feeling he got when he was around Naruto. His mother had told him that it might be a special kind of love. To soon though, Itachi called the end of the two minutes.

As he stopped his assault, he sat there on top of Bethany, who was trying to catch her breath. As her panting slowed, Bethany opened her eyes and stared at Sasuke's black eyes. Staring deep into the endless Oceans of blue, the Uchiha's cheeks turned a slightly darker shade of pink, making them into a light crimson colour. "Sasuke?" Itachi called, walking over to his little brother. Sasuke gasped and scrambled off of Bethany as fast as he could. Bethany blinked; he was serious, wasn't he? Itachi held out his hand to help Bethany up.

Next, Itachi and Bethany played while Shino counted. This time Bethany caught the oldest Uchiha brother, though she was sure he let her. Finding Itachi's ticklish spot was surprisingly simple. The girl created two clones and had them hold down his arms and legs while she tickled his ribs. Itachi tried to hold back, but soon the childish laughter was bubbling up from his mouth. He seemed to be even more sensitive than her, because after only one minute tears were pouring down his face as he struggled to suppress his giggles. After Seven minutes, a panting Uchiha was lying on the ground, giggling every few minutes.

Soon enough though the sky started to turn a slight pink in colour, signifying that it was time to go home. Bethany smiled and waved goodbye to her friends as she ran back to Jiriya. As everyone left the park, Bethany was feeling very good. She had made two new friends today, and who knew how many more she would eventually make?

 _ **Ȑ**_

When they got home, Kushina had already made dinner for the three of them, Minato too, but it just wasn't dished out. They were having beef stew tonight, which a hungry Bethany ate with much enthusiasm. As they ate, Bethany told her Kaa-Chan about her day, about the new friends she had made, and how much fun they had had today. Kushina giggled at the descriptions' of the games they had played, especially Tickle tag, "we should play that some time Naruto-Chan" she said, an evil glint in her eyes. Bethany gulped, not likely!

When Minato came home, Bethany was just about falling asleep at the table. Jiriya caught her as she fell into a deep slumber. After carrying her up to her bedroom and making sure the boy was tucked in, the Toad Sage told Minato and Kushina that he had to return to his travels. After bidding them farewell, and asking them to say bye to "the Gaki" Jiriya disappeared in a puff of white smoke.

 _ **Ȑ**_

That night Bethany slept soundly in her bed, very content with her new life so far.

 _ **Ȑ**_

The next morning, Bethany was woken up by Kushina, who told her to hurry up, because Tou-Chan had a surprise for her. Bethany yawned and went to the Bathroom to have a shower and get dressed. Wearing another of her outfits from the day before, except without the undershirt, Bethany hurried down to the dining room. Minato was sitting at the table eating cheesy Scrambled eggs and toast. Seeing Bethany, he smiled and gestured to her chair and breakfast.

Bethany quickly ate the food, man, Kushina was such a great cook! Minato suddenly became serious, "Naruko" he said, using his "Hokage voice". Bethany stopped eating and looked up at her father. "In light of recent events," here, he paused, obviously thinking back to the kidnapping attempt on his daughter that occurred only three days before. "I have decided to begin your Shinobi training early" he explained, seriously. Bethany's whole being lit up from within, "really, you mean it!" she exclaimed, jumping up on her seat in excitement. Minato smiled slightly, "that's right" his face then turned serious again, "but, as you've never used your chakra before to the extent of which we are going to during training, there are some rules you must follow".

Bethany nodded, becoming as serious as her father. "One: you must do exactly as I say, if you don't the conciseness could be disastrous," Bethany nodded, indicating that she understood the rule. "Two," Minato said, "if you feel tired at all you must stop right away, chakra exhaustion is a very dangerous thing, and despite having large reserves, if you use up too much during a battle, it will leave you completely drained of any and all energy, leaving you open to attack by the enemy, the worst case scenario: death" Bethany's eyes hardened, and she nodded again. Minato nodded, "and finally, you must be careful with your training, I don't want you to hurt yourself accidently, understand?" he asked. Bethany nodded again, "yes Tou-Chan, I understand" she said. Minato's serious face lifted, leaving a cheerful and exited face behind, "you know to tell you the truth, I've been looking forward to this for a long time" he grinned. Bethany smiled, "so have I Tou-Chan" she said happily.

 _ **Ȑ**_

After breakfast, Minato and Bethany went out into their private training grounds. Bethany gasped, it was incredible! Training dummies, targets, a lake, a forested area, a desert area, even a snow area. The training ground had it all. For ease of movement while training, Minato had Bethany change into a snowy white training kimono with matching pants. Minato turned to his daughter, "alright now Naruko, the first thing I want you to do is some warm up exercises and stretches" he said. Bethany nodded, and began stretching. After a few minutes, she began to run around the training grounds.

She did Fifteen laps around the yard, and was surprised to find that at the end of all that that she wasn't even breathing hard. Bethany did a few more quick stretches, then stood back in front of her father, ready to begin the training. Minato looked at Bethany, "alright, now, the first thing I want you to do is the water walking exercise, do you know what that is?" he asked her. Bethany smiled and nodded, "the water walking exercise is a form of chakra control training, where, like the tree climbing exercise, the user must focus a constant flow of chakra to the bottoms of their feet," Bethany paused to make sure she'd gotten the information right so far.

When Minato nodded, she continued, "however, unlike the tree climbing exercise, water walking requires a person to send out a constant stream of chakra downwards from the bottoms of their feet to allow them to keep their balance on the constantly moving surface of the water, thus creating surface tension between ourselves and the surface of the water" she explained. Minato smiled, "yes, very good, you seem to have the theory down nicely, but theory is only half of the exercise, the other half you must learn for yourself" Bethany nodded, and took off her kimono and pants, leaving only her undies on. Taking a deep breath, she walked over to the lake in the yard and began to attempt the exercise.

To Be Continued


	7. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6: The Hyuuga incident!**_

It had been nearly one year since Bethany had begun her ninja training, and she was getting worried. The reason for this? Hinata Hyuuga's third birthday was coming up, and she knew that she had to do something. She couldn't just let an innocent man die when he had done nothing wrong, but she couldn't let Hinata's father die either. She had to find a way to save Hinata without any Hyuuga being involved.

There were only two days until the party, Bethany had met and befriended the small Hyuuga heiress five months ago at the park, so there was no doubt that she'd be invited. After all, as the Hokage's son, she had special privileges. But still. She knew there was no way to stop Neji from getting the curse seal, but, if there was just a way to keep Hinata from getting abducted- but wait, maybe there was.

The cloud village wanted a Hyuuga, so a Hyuuga they would get. Bethany began to make plans immediately.

 _ **Ȑ**_

 _Two days later:_ Bethany was dressed in a black and silver silk party kimono that Kushina had made especially for her. She walked along excitedly, standing in between her parents and holding her Tou-Chan's hand. When the Hyuuga estate came into sight, Minato leaned down and whispered in her ear: "now remember Naruko-Chan, the Hyuuga clan is a very old and respected family, so be polite, also I hear that little Hinata, who's Birthday we are attending today is very shy and timid, so be gentle with her, alright?" he asked. Bethany looked up at Minato and smiled, "I understand Tou-Chan, don't worry" she said.

Minato nodded, "good". A few minutes later, the Namikaze family was standing on top of the hill in front of the Hyuuga estate. The guards nodded respectfully to the village leader, and opened the doors to allow them access. Bethany gasped, it was even bigger than the Uchiha Clan estate. A branch house member led the three of them into the house where the celebrations would be taking place. Looking around at all the Hyuuga's, Bethany couldn't see Neji, so that must mean that he was already off getting his curse seal. She frowned, Bethany still hated that damn curse seal of theirs. Looking around once more, she spotted Hizashi Hyuuga, Neji's father, and younger twin brother of Lord Hiashi Hyuuga, Hinata's father, and the head of the clan.

Pulling on Kushina's robes she said, "look Kaa-Chan, theirs Hizashi-Sama, I've seen him before at the park, can I go talk to him?" she asked. Kushina nodded, "just make sure you remember where we are, okay?" she said, smiling at her daughter, and giving her hand a gentle squeeze. Bethany smiled and nodded. So the young child expertly moved through the crowd of Hyuuga's and walked up to Neji's father. Hizashi was feeling restless, his brother had taken Neji away to be marked with the curse seal, the application of which was almost as painful as the activation. He would never say anything to anyone, but he was worried, his son could be in agonising pain right now, and he could do nothing to help him.

Suddenly there was a tug on his robes, and a small voice said: "Hizashi-Sama? Are you okay?" wondering who would address _him_ with such formality, the younger Hyuuga twin looked down, only to catch sight of spiky blond hair and Sapphire blue eyes. _'Naruto-Chan?'_ he had met the boy at the park when he took Neji there to play for a while a few months ago. It seemed that he had gone there to play with his friends, and when he saw Neji all alone, he had walked straight up to him, introduced himself, and asked if he wanted to play with him and his friends. Hizashi had smiled, glad that someone had wanted to be Neji's friend, despite the stigma attached to him from being a member of the branch family of the Hyuuga clan.

Coming back to the present, Hizashi knelt down and smiled at the boy, "hello Naruto-Chan, are you here for Hinata-Sama's Birthday?" he asked. Bethany grinned and nodded, "yeah, I'm here to see Hina-Chan!" she said enthusiastically. Hizashi chuckled, but stopped when he saw the boys face, "but, Neji-Nii's not here, he's doing something else?" she said naively, trying as hard as she could to act like she didn't know what was going on. Hizashi frowned, reminded of what Neji was _really_ doing, "no, Neji had to have- a talk with his uncle Hiashi, so I'm afraid you won't be able to play with him for a little while, Naruto-Chan" Bethany lowered her eyes, "oh- but, but, when he's finished, we can play then?" she asked, alternating from sad, to happy and hopeful in a matter of seconds, as most small children were wont to do. Hizashi chuckled, hoping sincerely that that was the case, "well, maybe" he said.

A few minutes later, Bethany was playing with Hinata-Chan, though, she called her: 'Hina-Chan". The two girls, along with all the other Hyuuga children played various games, laughing and happy. Suddenly, the door opened, and their stood Hiashi Hyuuga, trailed behind by a very distressed Neji. All the Hyuuga children moved aside to make room for the head of their clan. Bethany stood by her parents, watching with a heavy heart, as Neji walked behind his uncle, with his hair shadowing his eyes, and his body trembling slightly every few minutes. Hiashi stopped by the kneeling form of his younger twin brother. Turning to his nephew, Hiashi spoke, "go back to your father now, Neji" he said in a cold and unforgiving voice.

The brown-haired boy walked up to his father and sat behind and to the side of him, his eyes still shadowed by his fringe. As Hiashi turned and walked away, he caught a glimpse of his daughter who was sitting by her mother and staring down at the floor with a shy gaze. After leaving the room and closing the door behind him, everybody sighed with relief, and the party continued. Hizashi turned to his son, who still hadn't looked up from the ground, with sad eyes, _'Neji'_ he thought. Bethany walked up to the still kneeling Hyuuga boy, "hey Neji-Nii!" she exclaimed loudly and cheerfully. Neji blinked, as if just realising that there were other people in the room. The four year old boy looked up in surprise, "Naruto Otouto?" he said, seeing the boy he considered to be a younger brother standing in front of him.

Slowly, Neji's lip's curved up into a small smile, "hey, I didn't know you were here!" he said happily, seeming to forget what had happened earlier, in light of seeing his first friend here. Bethany grinned, and nodded her head vigorously, "uh huh, I'm here for Hina-Chan's Birthday," she twirled around, "do you like my party kimono?" she asked, grinning at the older boy. Neji smiled, "yes, I do, it's beautiful, where did you get it from?" he asked, slowly becoming more animated. Bethany smiled, "Kaa-Chan made it for me!" she said laughing excitedly. She turned around towards where the other children were playing, "do you wanna go play with everyone else?" she asked. Neji looked down and nodded. Bethany laughed, then dragged the Branch member off to play together.

Hizashi smiled, yes, Naruto-Chan was a special one at that, he could take any outcast, and make friends with them. He was truly grateful for what the boy had done for his son.

 _ **Ȑ**_

That night, Bethany slept over at the Hyuuga compound. She slept in Neji's room, since she was a guest and physically a boy. It seemed like the girl was asleep, but she was really exacting stage one of her plan. Near midnight, the sunny haired blond performed a substitution jutsu, and in a small puff of smoke, she was replaced with Hinata. Appearing in Hinata's bedroom, Bethany quickly performed the transformation jutsu, and she turned into Hinata.

Performing the new jutsu that she'd spent months creating for this very moment, she formed several hand signs, and whispered the name of the Jutsu under her breath: "Sleeping eyes Jutsu". This ability was a jutsu that allowed her to appear like she was sleeping, but allowing her to see everything through her closed eyes. Setting up a sleeping Genjutsu, that would instantly knock out anyone that would touch her, Bethany waited for the Cloud Ambassador to try and kidnap her.

At 12 0'clock on the dot, a man silently entered her room. After looking around to see if the coast was clear, the man reached out to pick her up. Upon coming into contact with her skin, the man promptly fell down to the ground unconscious. Releasing her jutsu's, Bethany picked up the man and shushined straight to her parent's bedroom.

 _ **Ȑ**_

The next morning everyone was frantic after the attempted kidnapping of their heiress. Minato, Kushina and Bethany left the compound, and Minato teleported them home. Sitting at the dining room table, Bethany knew she had some explaining to do. Bethany looked down at her hands, which were fiddling with her kimono. She had no idea what to tell them, should she tell the whole truth? Or a version of the truth?

Minato was staring at his daughter with a mix of bewilderment and concern on his face. How did she know about the Kumo ambassador? And how on earth did she knock the man unconscious like that? So many questions and Minato needed some answers- now. "Naruko," he said, using his "Hokage voice" and causing Bethany to flinch. She wouldn't admit it, but she was scared. No the truth of the matter was that she was terrified. She knew that she would have to tell them the whole truth now, and she was completely terrified that, when they found out that she wasn't actually, "Naruto" or meant to be there, that they would get rid of her, or worse- that they would say she could stay, but hate her.

"Naruko, tell me, how did you knock that man out, and how did you know he was coming?" Minato asked, voice stern. Bethany kept her head down and refused to look up at either of her parents. The girl felt tears form in the corners of her eyes, and started to tremble. She knew what Minato could be like when angry, and the fear of that wrath was becoming unbearable. Minato, seeing the terror in his daughter's body language, sighed. She was only three after all, and him acting like this was an interrogation, was probably scaring the poor girl out of her mind. "Naruko," he said again, more softly this time, "we're not going to be mad at you, alright, we just want to know how you knew about the kidnapping attempt on Hinata" he said gently. Bethany let out a sob and clenched her fists- this was it, this was the moment she had been dreading.

In her old life, she was 22 years old, and both of her parents were already dead. Living with Minato and Kushina had made her feel at ease again, calm and safe. But now she was in danger of losing everything, and she couldn't take it. She didn't want to be alone, she couldn't. Just the thought that they might hate her and throw her out, or keep her around, but still hate her, caused her heart to throb painfully in her chest. Bethany reached up and clenched her hand over her heart. Now she knew what Gaara had gone through when he lost everything. Seeing the reactions coming from his daughter, Minato frowned. Was her secret really that bad that even the thought of telling them caused her to break apart so easily?

Bethany took a deep wavering breath, and turned her tearful eyes up to her parents. The pain they saw in those eyes caused both Minato and Kushina to cringe. "The- the truth is-" a choked sob broke into her words and the barrier of tears that had built up in her eyes finally overflowed and fell down her cheeks, "the truth is that this is my second life", she said, causing both of her parent's eyes to widen. Whatever they had been expecting, it was not that!

 _To Be Continued_


	8. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7: Finally, the truth revealed!**_

Minato and Kushina stared at their daughter. Second life? What was she talking about? Both parents noticed that she was still crying and shaking, so Kushina got up and walked over to the girl. Noticing her advance, Bethany's shaking became more prominent. Kushina frowned, what did she think she was going to do, hit her? When she raised her hand to place it on the crying girls shoulder, Naruko tensed. Yes it seemed that she did expect to be hit.

Deciding to show her daughter what she was really going to do, Kushina picked her up, ignoring the way her body stiffened for the moment, and placed her on her lap when she sat back down on the same chair. Wrapping her arms around her little girl's body in a gentle hug, Kushina began to stroke her hair. Feeling the soothing rhythm, Bethany's shaking calmed and her sobs softened to sniffles.

Taking deep breaths she decided to continue after a moment of calming down. "In my first life, I was a girl, and I didn't live in this world," Kushina handed her a tissue so she could blow her nose and wipe her eyes, "my name was Bethany Middleton, and I lived in a country/continent called Australia with my Mummy and Daddy," She sniffed, and chanced a look up at Minato. The fourth Hokage was resting his head on the back of his hand and was listening to the story with a quiet curiosity on his face.

Feeling it was safe to continue, Bethany said, "Mummy, Daddy and I lived in many different houses in my life, but when I was 15 Mummy died" she choked on a sob, and Kushina held her a little tighter. "About 1 year later, Daddy found a new girlfriend, and six years later they got married," Bethany took a wavering breath. "but he died that year in a car accident, strangely enough I went the same way that exact same year," "so you were 23 when you died?" Minato spoke quietly. Bethany nodded, "when I woke up the last thing I expected was to wake up the body of a baby Naruto Uzumaki! You see in my world, this is all an anime and manga series, that's how I knew who you were, and that's also how I know about things that are going to happen, like the Hyuuga incident" she explained.

Minato smiled gently, "why didn't you just tell us all this in the first place, Bethany?" he asked, "did you seriously think we would reject you? From the moment you were born you became our daughter, we did and still do love you, just as much if not more so than your first parents did" he said, placing his hand on her other shoulder. Bethany blinked, "but, I-I'm not your son, when I was reborn in Naruto Uzumaki's body, he ceased to exist, it's as though I killed your son, shouldn't you hate me for that?" she asked, beginning to cry again. Minato smiled sadly, "it's true that Naruto doesn't exist anymore, but you do, you are all we've ever known Bethany, and we're glad to be your parents, we really do love you" he said, hugging her gently.

Bethany blinked, and the tears that had formerly gathered in her eyes, fell down her cheeks, though this time they were tears of happiness. Bethany lunged at Minato and hugged him as tightly as she could, "Daddy!" she exclaimed over and over again. Minato giggled slightly at his daughter, and Kushina walked up, "Mummy!" Bethany cried after she had detached herself from Minato and run over to Kushina.

 _ **Ȑ**_

That day, Minato, Kushina and Bethany played tickle tag together. Bethany soon found out that her Daddy was a merciless tickler, especially now that he knew her real age. Twenty-Three minutes later, the girl was lying on the floor trying to recover from her torture. Tears and uncontrollable laughter were pouring from the girl's eyes and mouth. "N-not fair to use my mental age, T-Tou-Chan" she gasped. Later, Kushina made a special dinner for Bethany. The girl did like Ramen, but when she confessed that in her first life her favourite food was actually pasta, the two woman went shopping together.

"You know, I'm actually thinking about creating a particular jutsu that the Naruto from the Anime did" she said. Kushina looked over at her daughter who was walking next to her, holding her hand, "oh, and what's that, Naruto?" she asked, smiling now that she knew the whole truth. Bethany blushed, "well, he called it the Sexy jutsu, and though I wouldn't be using it for anything perverted, if I put enough chakra into the jutsu, I may be able to make it last longer" she said. Kushina smiled, "well, if you want to Naruto" knowing why she may want to create a jutsu like that.

Since the Hyuuga incident went off without a hitch, Bethany contemplated on trying to fix the Uchiha Massacre as well. But she knew that there was more to this than the Hyuuga incident. She should talk to her Tou-Chan about it. She **would** talk to him later. After entering the shop, Bethany chose a bag of pasta shells and Kushina got the ingredients for the Bolognese sauce. On the way home, Bethany saw Sasuke walking with his mother. She smiled at the black-haired boy, and promised herself that she would not allow the Uchiha Massacre to take place.

 _ **Ȑ**_

Back at home, Kushina made dinner, while Bethany read. At the moment she was reading a book on wind style jutsu. The three year old was trying to get as strong as she could so she could prevent the future she knew from happening. Putting her book down, Bethany went out into the training area. Standing in front of the targets, the small blond took out five shuriken, positioned herself properly, and threw the metal weapons. Three of them hit smack dab in the centre of the targets, one missed the target but hit the log and the last missed entirely.

Bethany continued to train, she had to get as strong as she could. She only had four years to find a way to prevent the Uchiha Massacre. Then there was also Gaara, she wanted to meet and make friends with him before his father ordered his uncle to kill and test him. She had always liked Gaara and didn't want him to become a blood thirsty killer before they met. Besides, Naruto was Gaara's first friend right? A few minutes later, Kushina finished making dinner, and Minato appeared via Flying Thunder God as Bethany walked inside. He grinned, and scooped her up, before tickling her under the arms. Bethany gave a shriek of laughter, while trying to escape her father's clutches. "Hey, Bethany-Chan, how's my favourite daughter today?" he asked. The blond giggled and looked up at her Daddy.

"I'm okay Tou-Chan, I was practicing my Shuriken throwing before, and I hit three out of five right in the middle of the targets, the fourth hit the log but missed the target and the last missed completely, but still-" Minato smiled, "that's my girl, don't worry, I'm sure you'll get even better with practice" he said, a big grin on his face. As they sat at the table, Bethany was happy that her life was going so well.

 _ **Ȑ**_

Today was Bethany's fourth Birthday, and Sasuke, Hinata, Neji, Shino, Sakura and Itachi had all been invited to the Namikaze estate. Bethany was ecstatic to see all her friends there, and especially Sasuke for some reason. Well, the boy _was_ her best friend, but this was different. The girl was dressed in the same party kimono that she wore to Hinata's third Birthday, and since she was small for her age, it still fit her. The gifts were: a book on Tai-Chi from Hinata, a pair of gloves from Neji, a pair of goggles from Shino, Sakura had gotten her a coupon for her friend Ino's flower shop, Itachi had given her a new kunai set for when she started at the Academy. And Sasuke- well, he didn't seem to have gotten her anything.

Bethany knew she shouldn't be so upset but she was. After all, she hadn't had Birthdays for years in her old life, but something about the fact that Sasuke hadn't gotten her a present really tore into her heart. As everyone else played together, Bethany sat by herself, sadly wondering why her best friend didn't seem to want to spend time with her. Looking around, she suddenly spotted Sasuke standing behind the corner of the house. Noticing her eyes on him, Sasuke made the universal "come" motion with his pointer finger. Looking around, Bethany decided to follow the young Uchiha and walked around the corner of her house. Following Sasuke around yet another corner, he stopped in front of the second wall.

Wondering what he was up to, Bethany walked up to stand behind her oldest friend, "hey, Sasuke, what's up? I didn't see you at the party-" she was interrupted when she got within arm's reach of him, for Sasuke turned around, pinned her against the wall and slammed his mouth onto hers. Bethany froze for a second, then started to return the kiss. Her mind was stuck on one thought, so her movements were instinctual: _'Sasuke is KISSING me!'_ As she leaned into the kiss, Bethany felt a feeling she'd never felt before. After a few more minutes, they broke apart for air. Bethany stood, still in a daze, staring at the black-haired boy, who blushed about six shades of red, "I-I couldn't think of anything to get you for your Birthday, so I thought of the next best thing, so- ah, bye" he said, turning and running away as fast as he could.

Bethany just stood there with a blush on her face, still trying to process what had just happened. Suddenly, her Asperser's mind kicked in, and tears formed in her eyes. Bethany ran off to find her Kaa-Chan as fast as she could.

 _ **Ȑ**_

Kushina was looking around wondering where her daughter had run off to. Suddenly she was grabbed from behind by two small arms. Turning around, she smiled catching sight of Bethany holding onto her legs as tight as she could, "hey Naru-Chan, where-" she paused upon noticing the tears pouring down her daughters face. Making a split second decision, the red-haired woman scooped up her crying daughter and ran into the house with her, after calling out that she had a family emergency to the party guests.

After going into Bethany's bedroom, Kushina closed and locked the door. Then she placed Bethany down on her bed and sat down next to her, "now, tell me what's wrong Bethy" she said, holding her daughter close to her. Sobbing, Bethany told her mother everything that had happened with Sasuke, "I-I know that I-It's not such a big d-deal, but with my A-Asperser's, I-I just get really emotional with things like this" Kushina smiled gently, "I know Otome, it's okay, well, how do you feel about Sasuke-Chan?" she asked, stroking her hair. Bethany frowned, "well, he's my best friend, and, I guess I've always known how he felt about me, and I've always thought about how cute little Sasu-Chan was, but-" she paused, "I'm not a homosexual, but I am a girl, and being with another girl just wouldn't feel right, but being with a boy just because my mind is a females while my body is a males, I-I don't think I can do that!" she exclaimed, bursting into tears.

Kushina held her softly, "do you like Sasuke as a girl?" she asked. Sniffing, Bethany nodded. Kushina smiled at her little girl, "well then, don't worry about what anyone says, you are you, and if you want to be with Sasuke, then go ahead and be with him, it's your life and it's your heart" Bethany smiled, "thank you Mummy" she said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

 _To Be Continued_


	9. Chapter 8

_**Chapter 8: I'm going to be a big brother, or is that a sister?!**_

It was raining today, and Bethany was very board. She couldn't train, and she had gotten board with reading. Mummy was out today, and Daddy was at work. The girl, who had turned four a few months ago knew that Kakashi or "Dog-Nii" as she had decided to call him was watching her today. Being the Hokage's son/secret daughter required her to have specialized ANBU guards watching over her at all times. Most of the time it was either Kakashi or Itachi, or, as she called him: "Crow-Nii". Today it seemed that it was Kakashi watching over her.

Of course, Sasuke didn't know that his big brother was an ANBU at the moment. Suddenly, the door was flung open, "Tadaima!" the cheerful voice of Kushina Uzumaki Namikaze rung throughout the house. Bethany smiled, Kaa-Chan was home! Jumping out of her seat, Bethany ran over to her Mummy, "O kairi naisai, Kaa-Chan!" she exclaimed, jumping into Kushina's arms. The red-haired woman grinned happily at her daughter.

"Hey, Bethany-Chan! Guess what?" she asked, hugging her and walking over to the couch. Bethany cocked her head to the side, "what Mummy?" she asked. Kushina giggled, "you're going to be a big sister soon!" Bethany blinked, then a wide grin split her face, "really, you mean it?" she exclaimed. Kushina nodded, "but don't tell Minato yet, I want it to be a surprise for dinner tonight" Bethany nodded, then her grin fell, "wait," she said, looking down. Kushina sobered as well, "what's wrong Naruko-Chan?" she asked. Bethany looked up, "am I a big sister or a big brother? and, what if, I'm not a good older sibling, I mean, in my first life, I never had any siblings, except my best friend and her older sister, and even then, I never had them live in the same house as me for more than a year, I mean, I don't-" Kushina placed a finger on Bethany's mouth, "don't worry Otome, you'll do fine" she kissed her forehead.

Bethany smiled, "is it a boy or a girl?" she asked curiously. Kushina smiled gently, "it's a girl, Bethany" Bethany's smile became a grin, "names?" she asked. Kushina scratched her head, "ah, I- haven't really thought of any yet," she explained with a sheepish grin on her face. Bethany put her finger on her chin, "how about, Kuroko, that way she'll be a great ninja in the future" she said. Kushina thought about it for a moment, then smiled, "I think Kuroko would be a lovely name for your new little sister". Bethany nodded. She couldn't wait to meet Kuro-Chan, and she promised herself that she would be a good older sibling.

 _ **Ȑ**_

The next six months went by reasonably quickly, and then came the day of the delivery. There was a bad snow storm, surprisingly enough for Konoha so Minato had gone out to get the doctor and bring him to the house, leaving Bethany alone looking after Kushina. As she tried to help her mother as best she could, her father suddenly appeared with the doctor. The medic-nin went to work at once, and ordered both Bethany and Minato out of the room.

The next few hours went by agonisingly slowly, and with each moan or cry of pain, the two family members cringed. After two hours Bethany was twitching like crazy, and Minato was pacing back and forth, back and forth, back and forth- "will you please stop that, I'm going crazy enough as it is!" Bethany cried. Minato turned to his daughter, "sorry, Bethany, but all this waiting is making me insane" he said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. Bethany frowned, "yeah well, how do you think I feel?" She asked. "Naruto!" Bethany looked up at the call. Sasuke was running towards her with Itachi and Mikoto. Bethany smiled, "Sasuke!"

 _ **Ȑ**_

Fifteen minutes later, the Medic came out to them, "Hokage-Sama, Naruto-Kun," both Minato and Bethany stood up. The woman smiled at them, "the baby was delivered safely, and Kushina-San will be fine" Bethany sighed in relief, while Mikoto and Itachi smiled. Sasuke looked at Bethany with a smile on his face, glad everything had worked out for his family. Bethany grinned, "I can't believe I have a little sister, I'm a big brother now!" she exclaimed happily.

Minato and Bethany went into the living room, where the red-head was holding a baby girl with orange hair. Seeing them, Kushina smiled, "Minato, Naruto, come meet Kuroko Uzumaki Namikaze" she said with a smile. Bethany slowly walked up to the bed, "my Imouto-Chan, she's so cute!" she exclaimed. Kushina giggled. Bethany looked up at her, "can I hold her?" she asked. Kushina nodded, and Bethany took the small orange-haired baby from her mother. Kuroko opened her eyes and stared at her. Her eyes were red. Suddenly, the baby opened her mouth and let out a cry.

Bethany blinked, then handed her to the nurse, "we should probably take Kushina-San and Kuroko-Chan to the hospital now so we can care for them better" the woman said. After Minato teleported them there, Bethany was left at home to wonder on the strange aura coming from her baby sister. Sasuke asked if he could sleep over that night, and Mikoto said that he could. So they went home to get his things. Wanting to get an outside opinion on her little sister, Bethany entered her mindscape to have a talk with the giant fox.

 _ **Ȑ**_

 _Inside Bethany's mindscape:_ the 23 year old opened her eyes to the familiar forest of her mindscape. Walking through it until she stood in front of the giant bars of wood, Bethany looked up at the cage for the fox, "Kurama!" she called. Two giant red eyes appeared out of the darkness, revealing the form of the giant nine-tailed Kitsune. "Hey, brat, it's been a while" he said, lying down and crossing his massive paws in front of him. Bethany smiled, "Sorry, Kurama, it's just that there's been a lot going on lately" she said, with a small apologetic smile.

Kurama huffed, "yeah, I know kid, I've been watching from inside you," he replied. Bethany sat down on the grass, "I need your opinion on something," she said. Kyuubi grinned, "it's your little sister right, you sensed the odd aura," Bethany nodded, pulling some grass from the ground absentmindedly. Kurama closed his eyes, "I would have thought you'd have recognised it immediately, since you're in a similar situation" Bethany frowned, then recognition lit her eyes, "you mean someone else was reincarnated as her? But, who was it?" she asked. Kyuubi shrugged, "no idea, you'll have to wait until she starts talking to find out" he said, then opened his eyes, "you better go Kit, the Uchiha brat just came into your room".

Bethany grinned, and was about to leave her mindscape, when something the giant fox said clicked in her mind. She turned back to the Kyuubi, "you just called me _Kit_ didn't you?" she asked, a mischievous grin on her face. Kurama huffed, but didn't open his eyes, "so what if I did, Gaki? Now get going before your _boyfriend_ starts to get worried about you" Bethany frowned and blushed deeply, the previous conversation completely forgotten, "he's not my boyfriend!" she said indignantly. Before either of them had time to say anything else, Bethany felt herself waking up.

 _ **Ȑ**_

Slowly opening her eyes, Bethany yawned deeply and stretched, only when she'd rubbed the sleep out of her eyes did Bethany realise that Sasuke was standing over her, with a smile on his face. His eyes softened when he saw that she was awake, "sorry for waking you, but I was worried, you looked like you were having a nightmare" he said, sitting on the bed beside her, and placing his arm on her other side. Bethany smiled gently, "I'm so flattered that you would worry so much about me that you would wake me yourself, your Majesty" she joked.

Sasuke smiled again and leaned down to her. When the black-haired boy placed his lips on hers and started to kiss her gently, Bethany leaned into the embrace. Instinctively the girl smoothed her hands over his sides. Parting his lips from hers, Sasuke started to suck on her collar bone. Bethany moaned in response. She didn't want this to ever end, but she knew it was too soon to be getting so serious. They were only four, there was plenty of time for this later on. Moaning and gasping, Bethany tried to get her thoughts across, "Sa-sasuke, don- don't you th-think we're going a b-bit to fa-st here?" she managed to get out.

Stopping what he was doing, Sasuke looked at the blond, "what do you mean, Naruto?" he asked. Bethany smiled, "I love you, you know I do, but, we're only four years old, not even in the Academy yet, we have our whole lives to be together. While we're young, let's just have fun and be children, okay? We can still be together later in our lives, but for now, let's just be kids" she said. Sasuke got off her and frowned, but after thinking it over for a moment, the black-haired boy decided that he would do whatever Naruto wanted to do, "okay, I understand" he said with a small smile. Bethany beamed at him, then her smile became a smirk, "you're pretty good for a Gaki" she teased. Sasuke scoffed, then crossed his arms over his chest, "Gaki? You do know we're the same age, right?" he asked, sitting back down on the bed.

Bethany giggled, "how do you even know any of this, you're four?"Sasuke winked cheekily, a look which didn't suit him at all, "oh, I have my ways". Suddenly, a knock was heard at the door, "Naruto-Kun, Sasuke-Chan?" Mikoto called. Sasuke turned pale with horror, "Kaa-San, I'm not _that_ little anymore!" he exclaimed, completely mortified that his mother was still treating him like a baby. Bethany smiled and snickered, "that's for sure, Sasu-Chan" she said under her breath. Sasuke blushed, and threw a pillow at her head. The blond dodged the flying projectile with ease, giggling the whole time. She walked up to the door and opened it, "yes Miko-Kaa-Chan?" she asked, with a smile.

Mikoto smiled, "I just wanted to tell you that dinner's ready" she said. Bethany's face lit up, "food!" she exclaimed, making a bee-line for the kitchen. Sasuke chuckled, he was sure that the blond would be a good big brother. Naruto was so kind and caring, how could he not be? The black-haired boy smiled, and followed the sunny blond into the kitchen. He was sure things would work out.

 _To Be Continued_


	10. Chapter 9

_**Chapter 9: Kyo Sohma to Kuroko Uzumaki Namikaze?!**_

Kyo Sohma had died. He knew he had. One moment, he was an old man, lying in his bed with Tohru by his side, the next he was surrounded by darkness. At first he'd thought the darkness was death, for he was simply floating in a void of nothingness. But soon he became aware of his own heart beating firmly against his ribs, so he knew he was still alive. But how? He waited in that darkness for who knew how long. It could have been days, months or years, he didn't know.

Kyo knew he wasn't alone in the darkness, for he could feel another's heartbeat close by. But the constant time spent doing nothing was beginning to drive him crazy. The orange-haired boy tried to open his eyes, move his arms, legs, even breath, but nothing worked. He couldn't control his body at all. Finally, the surroundings began to change, or at least Kyo could feel them moving around him. Then he was moving, and it felt like his body, starting with his head was being squeezed through a clothes press.

The pain was unbearable, and so he opened his mouth and screamed. By the time he realized that he was doing so, the pain had passed, and an icy breeze that burned his tender skin blew over him. His screaming intensified- he just wanted to be warm, was that too much to ask! Suddenly he was being rubbed over by something that he guessed might have been soft to a normal person, but was agonisingly painful to him for some reason. It felt like his skin was so tender that whatever was rubbing against his flesh felt like sandpaper.

Kyo kept screaming, hoping someone would help him- he had no idea what was going on or where he was. Then he was wrapped in something that actually felt soft to him, and placed in someone's arms. The feeling of being held was comforting and gradually his cries fell silent. A few minutes later, Kyo heard the opening and closing of a door. Opening his eyes, the orange-haired boy saw a boy about 3 or four years old, with spiky blond hair, bright blue eyes and three- whisker marks? on each cheek. He was handed to the blond boy.

Kyo suddenly felt hungry, and so he opened his mouth and screamed again. The blond boy blinked his eyes, then handed him to a nurse. "we should probably take Kushina-San and Kuroko-Chan to the hospital now so we can care for them better" the woman said. The orange-haired boy saw another blond man take him in his arms and hold the nurses shoulder. Suddenly, they vanished, and all Kyo could see was yellow and a dizzying blur of light. Kyo closed his eyes to avoid the dizziness, and, as he felt tired, decided to get some sleep.

 _ **Ȑ**_

The next morning, Bethany awoke to warm arms wrapped around her form. She smiled, having never felt so content in her life. The blond boy turned slightly in the arms grasp, and came face to face with a peacefully sleeping Sasuke. The boy was smiling in his sleep and looked more serine than Bethany had ever seen him. Suddenly, Bethany didn't care that she was in a male body, or that Sasuke was obviously gay. All she cared about was feeling her boyfriend's warm body against hers, and the love that radiated so strongly yet gently from him.

Bethany sighed softly, the sun was already up, and if she didn't hurry and get up, Mikoto would come in and see them. Turning around gently in the dark-haired boy's arms, she kissed him softly on the lips. Sasuke's eyes fluttered for a moment, then opened, his eyes connecting to those of Bethany. She smiled at him, "good morning, Sasu-Chan" she said softly. Sasuke smiled back, and smoothed her hair, tucking a loose strand behind her ear. Slowly Bethany sat up in bed, stretching and yawning deeply. Sasuke sat up next to her, leaning heavily on one hand, his hair lying flat and his bangs framing his face.

Along with his innocent sleepy facial expression, and half lidded eyes, the little raven had never looked so cute. Bethany giggled, "you know Sasuke, flat hair actually looks much better on you than your usual hairstyle, I personally think you should keep it that way" she said, while Sasuke rubbed his eyes. The blond haired boy giggled, then pulled the youngest Uchiha out of the room with her.

Letting Sasuke take a shower first, Bethany waited outside the bathroom with her clothes. Mikoto was just coming out to wake them up when she spotted Bethany standing outside the bathroom. The older woman smiled, "good morning Naruto-Chan, how are you feeling?" she asked, walking up to her.

Bethany grinned back, "I'm good, Miko-Kaa-Chan, today I let Sasu-Chan have a shower first" she replied. Mikoto chuckled, "you're as lively as ever, even this early in the morning" she said. A few minutes later, a fully dressed and awake Sasuke came out of the bathroom. It seemed he had been awake enough to understand what she had said, because instead of styling his hair the way he normally did it, he'd just brushed it and left it flat. He smiled when he saw Mikoto, "morning Kaa-San" he said and hugged her. Mikoto smiled at her youngest son, rubbing his back, "good morning, Sasuke, I'm glad to see you're awake, today we're going to visit Kushina-San and Kuroko-Chan in the Hospital, Minato-Sama is going to come as soon as he can after work" she explained.

Bethany grinned.

 _ **Ȑ**_

Walking the streets with Mikoto and Sasuke, Bethany didn't miss the glares that some villagers sent her way. Most of the village either knew that she was their saviour for protecting them from the Nine tails *cough Kurama cough*, and keeping the _demon_ from attacking them again *cough tailed beast being controlled cough*. But a small percentage still thought that she was the Kyuubi, and thought of her as a demon. They even went as far as to try and chase her out of the village on some occasions, although even the stupid weren't idiotic enough to physically attack their Hokage's son, they knew how he could get when mad. And so, Bethany just had to ignore the small percentage of her villager's people that hated her.

Passing by Inochi's flower shop, Bethany decided to stop and get some flowers for her Mummy. Walking through the door, the jingle of the bell caught the attention of the woman behind the counter. The red-haired woman looked up, Bethany guessed that she must be Ino's mother, since Ino herself couldn't be more than four years old at this point in time. The woman smiled at them, "hello Uchiha-San, what can I do for you today?" she asked. Mikoto smiled, "Kushina's in the Hospital today, as she just had her second baby yesterday" she explained. The woman smiled wider, "really? I haven't seen much of Kushina lately, how is she?" and so the adults went on with their conversation.

Bethany wasn't paying much attention, she was looking around for the best flowers to get for her Mummy. Inspecting some golden flowers that were closed into buds, she turned to the red-haired lady, "um, excuse me, but what are these flowers called?" The two women turned to look at her. The blond woman smiled at seeing the Hokage's son there, and walked over to her. Kneeling down she looked at the flowers as well, "well, Naruto-Kun, these flowers are called Orascion, the singing flower," she said smiling at the blond boy. Tilting her head a little, Bethany played the part of the little boy who didn't know what she meant perfectly, "singing flower? Why?" she asked. The woman smiled again, and pushed the golden buds into the sunlight.

The flowers opened in a shower of golden dust, they really did sparkle like golden stars. Then the music started. (This is the song from Nausica of the Valley of the Wind) Bethany gasped, "they really do sing, I'd heard of them before, but I didn't really think they would really sing!" she exclaimed. She turned to the red-haired woman, "and they close at night and open in the morning?" she asked, wanting to be sure. The woman smiled and nodded, "yes they're really quite remarkable, it's like they know when the suns shining on them and when it's not". Bethany grinned, "how much are they?"

 _ **Ȑ**_

Bethany, Sasuke and Mikoto walked into Kushina's hospital room to find the red-haired Uzumaki attempting to do some sewing, and looking utterly board. She brightened, however when she saw the three enter. Bethany grinned back, and ran into her arms, "Kaa-Chan!" she exclaimed. Kushina giggled. Normally, Bethany would call her Mummy, but she had to play her part in her present company. Kushina smiled gently, and rubbed her daughters back, "hey, Naruto-Chan, how are you today?" she asked, glad to have some company and relief from her boredom.

Bethany grinned, "I'm great, you know, Kaa-Chan, guess what?" she asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Kushina smiled, then leaned down, as though it were a secret, "no, what?" she whispered, though Mikoto could hear. Bethany leaned in too, so she could play the part, "Tou-Chan's going to teach me a cool new technique tonight when he comes home" she said, proudly. Kushina grinned at her. Mikoto stepped in, "so, where's the littlest Uzumaki Namikaze?" she asked. The red-haired Uzumaki smiled, "with a nurse having a bath" she explained. Just then the door opened, and Minato came in. "Tou-Chan!" Bethany cried, running over to him.

Minato smiled and hugged her. Then he walked up to the bed. Kushina smiled at her husband, "hey, Minato" she said happily. Bethany smiled happily at her family.

 _ **Ȑ**_

Kyo grimaced as the nurse sat him down on the side of the small bathtub used for babies. He would usually complain that he could wash himself, along with a lot of shouting and blushing. But, being a newborn baby, he could hardly even sit up. So, he put up with the female medic giving him a bath for now. After he was clean, he began to feel sleepy, so the nurse took him into a white room full of other babies. After being placed into a cot, Kyo Sohma almost immediately fell asleep, exhausted from the day's events.

To Be Continued


	11. Chapter 10

_**Chapter 10: A visit with Gaara and Yashamaru?!**_

At four and a half years old, Bethany was doing exceptionally better than her peers. The blond Uzumaki Namikaze was the talk of many civilians and Shinobi alike. Mothers doted on how cute she was, and how she was going to look just like her father when she was all grown up. These people were rewarded with a smile as bright as the sun, and coo-worth joyous giggles. Toy shop owners went out of their way to give her gifts of the softest, most adorable stuffed toys they had. If that weren't enough, the almost five year old already had her own fan club, consisting of all the girls who ever visited the playground.

But what really shocked her parents, was how strong she was. Only four, and she had already mastered the tree climbing and water walking exercises, the Academy three, and her reflexes were that of an experienced Genin, and she hadn't even started the Academy yet. One warm, sunny day like any other, Minato called Bethany into his office. As she walked through the street, she held one of her many stuffed toys in her tiny arms. Among all the toys she owned, the Nine-Tailed Fox plushy that her mother had made for her when she was two was her favourite. It was this toy that she currently held onto with great vigour, but also great care. As the blond haired child walked through the large village, she smiled adorably up at the many people she passed, squeezing her plushy, and blushing gently.

Many people melted under the gaze of her big sea-blue eyes, clasped their hands under their chins, and let out a soft: "awww". Bethany beamed up at these people, and giggled cutely. One man even stopped her and gave her some candy. When she said that she couldn't take something like that for free, the man simply waved it off, and told her to come back anytime. Smiling happily, the young woman accepted the gift, with a grateful: "thank you Tenshu-San (Mr shop keeper)!" she called back loudly, rapidly waving her free arm, with a smile that could brighten Amegakure. As she reached the Hokage Tower she stopped to greet the guards, who let her in when she told them that she was here to see her father, who had called for her.

Walking up to the reception desk, Bethany reached up with her tiny arms, pulling herself up to her toes, trying to see over the top. But, as short as she was at the moment, the only thing that peeked over the edge of the desk top, was her spiky blond hair that she had inherited from her father. "Shitsurei, Hisho-San, (excuse me, Miss Secretary,) but Hokage-Sama asked to see me, may I go in?" she asked politely. Unfortunately, this woman was new, having just taken the job, and didn't much like Bethany at all. The stupid woman was one of _those_ villagers, the ones who hated her for being Kurama's Jinchuriki host, despite her relation to the village leader.

In fact, Bethany had even heard some of the more idiotic civilians discussing how "the demon brat had obviously brain-washed the Hokage and his wife to make them think that the Kyuubi was actually their son" of course, Bethany had contemplated telling her father about this, but had ultimately decided against it, wanting to try and win the trust of the civilians by proving to them that she would not harm them. Of course that didn't help the stab of pain that she felt in her heart every time a villager said something cruel about her and Kurama.

The lady, who had brown hair so dark that it was almost black, and cold, steely purple eyes, sniffed and turned her nose up at the small child, "no you may not, Hokage-Sama is in a meeting right now, and cannot be disturbed by the likes of a snotty brat like you" she said, almost spitting in the girls face, as she turned her attention back to the crossword puzzle she had been doing before Bethany had interrupted. Bethany was shocked speechless. She had half a mind to tell the woman to shove it up her ass, and that _her father_ had called for her specifically to tell her some important news, but kept her mouth shut.

Walking over to one of the seats along the left wall of the waiting room, Bethany sat down, holding her fox toy in her lap, "well then, I'll just have to wait until the meeting is over then, won't I?" she asked the woman, who simply ignored her entirely, to fill in some more spaces of her Crossword. Sitting by herself, Bethany spoke to, and played with Kit-Chan, her toy fox, while she waited for Minato to be finished. A few minutes later, some men walked out of the Hokage office, and Minato, seeing Bethany, called her in. The short child jumped off her seat, walking quickly into the office, and pointedly ignoring the glare the secretary sent her way.

After closing the office doors, Minato set up the many privacy seals around the walls. After the green glow faded, and the walls were left blank once again, the blond Hokage nodded to the chair in front of him. Bethany grinned, and sat, looking at her father with expectant eyes, "you wanted to see me, Hokage-Sama?" she asked. Minato's smile faded, and his face became serious, an expression that was mirrored by the girl in front of him. "Yes, tell me Bethany, what do you know of the Kazekage's three children?" he asked. Upon hearing the topic of the conversation, Bethany's face became sad. "The oldest, Temari, uses wind based Ninjutsu, utilising a giant fan that she runs her chakra through. The middle son, Kankuro, will become a puppet master, that one day, will surpass Sasori, also known as Sasori of the Red sand," she took a breath, then continued.

"The third, and youngest son of the Kazekage, Sabaku No Gaara-" here, she paused, closing her eyes, as though her next words physically hurt to say, "is the Jinchuriki of the One Tailed Sand Racoon, Shukaku" slowly opening her eyes, Bethany looked up at Minato, who nodded at her, indicating that all details were right, "the youngest son, Gaara, is the reason I've called you here today, I have spoken with the Kazekage, and he tells me that the boy is unbalanced and unstable" the blond man laced his fingers under his chin and rested his head on them. Bethany scoffed, "oh, please, the only reason, Gaara is "unbalanced", is because of his father's own damn selfishness, anyone who had Shukaku sealed inside of them would be in the same state after four years of dealing with that bastard, let alone a four year old child who had him since birth!"

Bethany crossed her arms over her chest, "if you ask me, I'd say their damn lucky that he hasn't already killed everyone around him, but that just shows how much he's _not_ a monster" she scowled down at the ground, and anyone looking at her could tell how strongly she felt about this. Minato smiled softly, "yes, I believe you're right, which is why I thought that it might be good for both of you to meet another like you, if you would like that Bethany" he said gently. Bethany blinked, "you mean, go to the Sand Village, meet Gaara and try to become friends with him?" she asked, with wide, hopeful eyes. Minato grinned, "yes, that's right". Bethany grinned like the sun was living inside her body, and she jumped straight up into the air, "yes, yes, yes!" she exclaimed, happily. Minato grinned back, "good then, I'll inform the Kazekage, you go home and tell your mother about this, the whole family will be going next week, so don't forget, okay?" he asked.

Bethany nodded ecstatically, and ran to the door, but stopped just before opening it, "can Sasuke come with us Daddy?" she asked, turning to face her father, hope lighting in her eyes. Minato nodded, "only if Mikoto and Fugaku say it's alright" Bethany nodded, opening the door, "yes, Hokage-Sama".

 _ **Ȑ**_

Bethany walked with Kushina and Kuroko to the Uchiha compound. She had to admit she was happy. She, her family, and the boy she loved more than anything were going to see Gaara. No, happy wasn't quite the right word, she was _ecstatic_. After passing through the gates, Bethany, in a special Lilac kimono that her mother had gotten her, specifically for dealing with diplomatic relations, caught sight of the Uchiha family, minus Fugaku of course.

Letting out a joyful: "Sasu-Chan! 'Chi-Chan! Miko-Kaa-Chan!" the four year old ran up to the three mentioned people, enveloping Sasuke into an excited embrace, giggling the whole time. Sasuke smiled, actually smiled at the other boy. Despite being only four years old, Sasuke was actually much more grown up than that, well, sometimes. Mikoto smiled gently at the boy who was her youngest son's best friend. She walked up to Kushina, "so, you and your family are going to the Hidden Sand then?" she asked.

Kushina nodded, "that's right, actually my husband and I were wondering if little Sasuke-Chan and Itachi might like to join us, after all, if they're going to become ninja and clan heads, they have to know about diplomats" she explained. Mikoto thought about it for a moment, "well, I'd have to ask Fugaku, but I'm sure it would be alright" she said, and smiled.

 _ **Ȑ**_

That night, Bethany went to sleep dreaming about her upcoming meeting with Gaara, and how much better his life would be with a friend.

To Be Continued


	12. Chapter 11

_**Chapter 11: The Jinchuriki of the Sand!**_

In the Hidden Sand Village, a little boy with unruly red hair and turquoise pupil less eyes with black rings around them sat at his bedroom window, staring out into the sand storm outside with almost no emotion. The boy was only Four years old, but had already suffered in a way most adults would shudder at. He sighed deeply, and lowered his sad eyes. His father had told him of the upcoming meeting with the Hokage, and that he was bringing his family with him to meet him. Gaara was scared but a little hopeful too. The boy knew that the "special" voice inside his head was the reason for the villagers fear and hatred of him, but he had also been told that this boy had a special voice too, and Gaara wanted to know what the boy and his voice were like.

Gaara knew what _his_ voice was like, and he hated it. The voice made him hurt others, and it hurt him too if he didn't. The boy wasn't sure what pain was, only that other people felt it and he didn't because he was "special". The only thing he knew to identify with pain was when his voice made his head feel bad, and when his chest made him want to cry. Other than that, he had no clue. Staring out at the storm that was steadily getting worse, Gaara clutched the small teddy bear in his arms that he took everywhere. _'Sabaku, I wonder if this boy will be nice to me like you always are?'_ he thought to his toy.

"Gaara" The boy turned around at the voice, and was surprised to see his uncle, Yashamaru standing in his doorway. The young blond-haired man walked towards him, "it's late, I know you can't sleep, but please, at least meditate and get some rest" he said, a worried look on his face. Gaara looked back to the window, "Yashamaru" he said quietly. The blond-haired man looked down at him, but he was facing away from him, "this person, the one who's special like me, are you sure he won't hate me, or run away, like the others?" Gaara's voice was small, and filled with a deep fear. Yashamaru smiled gently, and walked up to his Nephew. Taking him by the shoulders, he gently turned the boy around to face him. The sandy blond man smiled at his sisters child, "yes Gaara, I'm sure that he won't hate you, in fact, I'm more than sure that you two will become the best of friends".

Gaara smiled, squeezing Sabaku tightly in his tiny arms, "thank you, Uncle, I'm going to go meditate now" he said happily, walking out of the room silently, leaving a hopeful Yashamaru behind, _'God, I hope I'm right'_ he thought.

 _ **Ȑ**_

The next day, the party of six left the Leaf Village, under supervision of the ANBU under Minato's direct control. Of course, you couldn't see those ANBU, or even tell they were there, but Bethany knew that there were probably at least 20 ANBU guards surrounding them from the shadows. This _was_ the Hokage and his family and friends they were talking about here.

As they walked, Bethany couldn't help but look around herself in wonder, same with Sasuke, this was the first time they'd left the village after all. Bethany grinned, she couldn't wait to meet Gaara, this time he _would not_ go insane. He would not be alone any more, that, she promised herself. Sasuke walked up to her side, "hey, Naruto, can you imagine how much more of this kind of stuff we'll see when we're ninja?"he asked. Bethany grinned at him, "yeah, it'll be awesome!" she exclaimed happily. Itachi was also looking around, wondering if this boy they were going to see would be like Naruto-Chan. Bethany, on the other hand, couldn't help looking around herself with wonder, examining the world around her. Everywhere she'd ever been had been somewhere in the Leaf Village, so it was quite exciting for the young girl (well, kind of young) to finally get to explore the rest of her new world.

Minato called back to the three children, "hey, guys!" the two boys and one boy/girl looked up at the Hokage, who beamed at them, "it's getting pretty close to lunch time, want to stop and eat now?" he asked. Bethany cheered, Sasuke looked shy, but nodded, and Itachi- well, let's just say that if you looked _really_ close, you could see a tiny smile of relief on his face and in his eyes. looking over to her mother, Kushina pulled out a _large_ container of Penne Bolognese. The blonds' eyes lit up with joy at seeing her favourite food. Minato, Kushina, Sasuke and even Itachi laughed at the sight of this. The oldest Uchiha used a small fire jutsu to light the fire, and Bethany's lunch was heated quickly. The two Uchiha brothers were surprised at how fast that huge amount of food disappeared into the small form that was their friend.

Sasuke stared in shock. Seriously, the container holding the blonds meal was almost as big as his body, and he almost literally inhaled it! Sasuke knew that his- uh, best friend could eat fast when it came to Ramen, but not even the kids Ramen obsession could compare to this. Itachi chuckled at the sight of his little brother staring in shock at his companion, that boy sure had some high metabolism. After a few minutes, Bethany sighed in contentment, placing the container that previously held her meal down, "ah, I love pasta" she said, smiling happily. Then she realised that Itachi and Sasuke were staring at her like she'd become the Kyuubi. She grinned and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Sorry," she said, eye smiling with both eyes, "I just really love pasta" she explained. Itachi just blinked, then shook his head, now he knew why Kushina-San had brought such a large portion.

 _ **Ȑ**_

After about two days the party of five arrived at the gates of the Hidden Sand. Bethany was actually fairly okay with the temperature, being able to take heat much better than anyone else there, and was hardly tired at all. After passing through the large sandstone structure, and wavering to the guards to let them know they were supposed to be there, the small party broke apart to do some quick exploring before they went to meet with the Kazekage. While Sasuke and Itachi walked along the sandy street, something at a jewellery stall caught Sasuke's eye.

The boy ran up to said stall and examined the object, while Itachi came up behind him. The owner of the stall came up and greeted them with a smile, "well hello their young man, what can I do for you today?" he asked kindly. Sasuke glanced up at the man then back down to the item in his hands, "Yes, um, could you please tell me how much this costs?" he asked, handing the item to the man. The owner took it and examined it gently, "this is 1200 ryo young man, would you like to get it for someone special?" he asked. Sasuke nodded, and handed over the money. The owner of the stall placed Sasuke's purchase into a brown paper bag, and bid the two boy's good day.

Sasuke nodded in thanks, and left after Itachi to the Kazekage's mansion.

 _ **Ȑ**_

Bethany walked into the Kazekage's office with her parents and little sister. Looking around, the young woman found the place to be too bland and boring, basically just a large wooden desk. Soon her attention was drawn by the man sitting at the desk who must be the Kazekage.

Immediately, Bethany didn't like the man. Pretty much all of his body was covered by his robes, hat and face mask. The only parts of his face visible were his eyes, which had large dark circles around them, obviously from many sleepless nights. However, despite her dislike of the man, he was a Kage, and she was sure that, despite how strong she currently was, the man could crush her easily if he wanted to, and it wouldn't do to make a bad first impression. So, after her parents had greeted the man, she walked forward and bowed politely, "Ohayo, Kazekage-Sama" she said, smiling happily.

The Kazekage narrowed his eyes, then looked up to Minato and Kushina who were standing behind their daughter. "So," he said, his voice conversational, but still holding a deadly edge to it, "this is your oldest child, is it Hokage-Sama?" he asked. Minato nodded, then gestured over to his wife who was holding a board looking Kuroko in her arms. "That's right, Kazekage-Sama, my wife Kushina is holding our youngest, Kuroko" he said. The Hidden Sand Village's leader looked back down to Bethany, who was still standing in front of his desk. "Then this boy is the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki" Bethany stood stock-still, trying very hard not to flinch under the look the Kazekage was giving her. The man shrugged, then went back to his paperwork "Yashamaru, my brother in law will be here shortly to take you to Gaara" he said, dismissing them, as one would a fly that annoyed them.

Bethany almost sighed in relief, but held it back as she walked back to Kushina's side. Minato nodded, "very well, Kazekage-Sama, we shall wait here" he said. As there were no chairs, the family of four were forced to stand in the office and wait.

 _ **Ȑ**_

Gaara Sabaku sat in his bedroom clutching tight to Sabaku the bear as he waited for his uncle to get back with the other 'special' boy that he was going to be meeting. **"You know that he won't accept you,"** Gaara jumped at his tormenters voice inside his head. **"You know he'll hate you, just like all the rest"** The boy shook his head, got up and walked over to his window to stare over the village. **"I don't know why you even bother, I am going to break you eventually, there's nothing you can do to stop me,"** Gaara closed his eyes and sat on the floor of his room, bringing his knees up to his chest and holding his head with his hands covering his ears, desperately trying to keep the Sand Racoon out, but all he got in return was dark, insane laughter that made his head throb.

"stop it" he moaned, tears starting to gather in his eyes. Shukaku laughed louder, **"why would I stop when it's so** _ **fun**_ **"** the poor boys head felt like shattering glass, as he started to sob, "please stop it!" Gaara begged. He couldn't see, his vision was being covered by red, and he felt scared, terrified even. "Yashamaru!" he screamed, "Kaa-San! Kaa-San please, save me!"

 _ **Ȑ**_

A man with kind grey eyes and short sandy blond hair walked to the Kazekage's office. The Hokage and his family were here and he had been called by his _**brother-in-law**_ to collect them and take them to meet his Nephew. The man frowned, he hated that man. Not only did he cause his precious sister to die, but he was the one responsible for Gaara's suffering! As he reached the door to the office, Yashamaru wondered on what the Hokage's son would be like.

He'd heard from the Kazekage that the boy was a young prodigy, but also very childish sometimes, though polite. He hoped that the boy would get along well with Gaara, he really did. Reaching up slowly, Yashamaru knocked on the door. Hearing the rough voiced reply of the Kazekage to enter, the young man pushed the door open and entered the office, getting his first look at the Hokage and his family. The Hokage was a young man with bright blond spiky hair, with two bangs framing his face and bright blue eyes, filed with kindness and strength. Yashamaru secretly admired the Hokage, knowing that he was everything a good leader should be and wished the Kazekage could be more like him. The second person Yashamaru noticed was a woman with violet coloured eyes, pale skin and long, vibrant red hair. She was standing next to a small girl with orange hair, (obviously a mixture of both parents hair colours) red eyes and a fierce expression on her face, though he did notice an underline of gentle kindness in her eyes.

The last person was a young boy, around Gaara's age, and looking almost exactly like the Hokage, with the spiky blond hair and bright blue eyes, though his eye and face shape were rounder compared to his father, making him look rather- cute and three whisker-like lines on each cheek. The Kazekage spoke up then, "Yashamaru, this is the Hokage and his family" he said. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Yashamaru looked at his leader, who gave an almost imperceptible shrug. So the blond man went to open the door. Upon opening, he was greeted with the sight of two boys who must be brothers. The taller and older of the two had straight black hair and black eyes, and slightly more pronounced ridges around his nose and looked to be around Nine years old. The small boy who looked to be around the Hokage's son's age had black hair and eyes just like the older boy, so he deduced that they must be siblings. The younger boy looked a lot like the older one, with his hair hanging limply to fall down his neck and frame his cheeks.

The older boy walked in while holding the younger boys hand, "sorry we're late, Hokage-Sama, Kazekage-Sama," he said, bowing to each of the village leaders, and prompting the younger boy to do the same, "I'm afraid we got a little side-tracked" he explained smoothly. Minato nodded, "that's alright Itachi-Kun, we we're just about to introduce ourselves formally to the Kazekage and his brother, so you're just in time" he said with a smile. Itachi nodded with a blank look on his face, but Bethany noticed the slight relief in Itachi's eyes, and smiled inwardly. Minato nodded, "alright I'll start, my name is Minato Namikaze, Forth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village," he indicated the red haired woman and small girl, "this is my wife, Kushina Uzumaki," the woman gave a short bow and a wide smile. He indicated the child and baby next, "my two children, my oldest, Naruto," the blond boy stepped forward and bowed, "it is a pleasure to meet you Kazekage-Sama, Yashamaru-San" Minato nodded his approval at his politeness, "and my youngest, Kuroko" the small girl just waved.

Next he turned to the two black-haired boys, "these are two of my son's friends, the oldest one is Itachi Uchiha," Itachi bowed to Yashamaru and the Kazekage, "and the younger boy is his younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha" Sasuke blushed and hid behind his brother, "um, n-nice to meet you" he mumbled shyly. The Kazekage nodded, then turned to Yashamaru, "take them to see Gaara" he said bluntly. The sandy blond nodded, turning to his guests, "follow me please" he said with a gentle smile on his face.

 _ **Ȑ**_

Meanwhile, Gaara was struggling to keep the sand from lashing out, even as his mind was weakening from the pain both in his head and in his heart. "Yashamaru, Yashamaru please-" he whispered, in too much pain to even scream properly. Shukaku smirked, **"see, this is what I mean, neither your** _ **precious**_ **Yashamaru nor your mother are coming to save you, they don't want you!"**

"no," he managed to get out, he was so tired, "no, it can't be- true" he begged, hoping someone would come and say it was a lie. Just then, a huge burst of pain ripped through Gaara's head, causing him scream out in pure agony.

 _ **Ȑ**_

Thankfully for Gaara, Yashamaru, Minato, Kushina and the children were close enough to his bedroom that all of them heard the scream. "Gaara!" Yashamaru cried, running up to his Nephew's bedroom as fast as his legs would take him, the three children right behind him. Itachi was running because the scream sounded like a child's, and he wasn't one to let any child suffer, Sasuke because it sounded like someone was being murdered, and Bethany was running because she recognised the scream as Gaara's and she was worried and wanted to know if he was alright.

The six of them burst through the door to a whirlwind of sand. Bethany shielded her face as she caught sight of the small red-haired boy writhing in agony on the floor, screaming his lungs out. _'Damn you, Shukaku'_ she thought. "Gaara!" Yashamaru yelled over the roar, forcing his way through the storm to get to his Nephew. Fortunately or unfortunately, Bethany got to him first. Though the sand cut her flesh, she pushed her way through until she was right in front of him. Grabbing him into her arms, she held him tight yet gently. "Gaara, it's alright, he won't hurt you again, not while I'm here, shh" she whispered softly.

He must have heard her because he relaxed in her arms and the sand calmed down. The four year old boy opened his eyes to see Bethany's bright blue ones staring back at him. He sat up quickly, "w-who are you?" he asked, scared. Bethany smiled, "my name is Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, the Jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed Fox, It's nice to meet you, Gaara" she said gently. "N-Nine Tails? Then, you're the boy Yashamaru told me about?" he asked, beginning to calm down. Bethany nodded, as said blond haired man came over to check his Nephew. Soon, everyone's attention was on the red-haired boy and his uncle, so Sasuke took Bethany to the side.

The boy smiled gently, and gave her a small box, "here, this is for you, Naruto," he said as she took it, "it's why Itachi and I were late before, I stopped to get it for you" he said, blushing a little. When she opened the box, Bethany gasped. Sasuke had gotten a necklace for her. It was a silver fox on a choker. The fox's one tail was wrapped around an opal, which was Naruto's birthstone. But what really amazed her was that it had an Aquamarine for an eye, and Sasuke didn't even know that that was her birthstone. Sasuke took the necklace from her hands and put it around her neck, "I wanted to get something for you, to show how thankful I was for your love, and this caught my eye" he whispered into her ear from behind her.

"I hope you like it, Naruto" Bethany smiled happily and kissed the boy gently, "I love it Sasuke, thank you" she whispered back. Sasuke ran his hands through Bethany's hair, including the longer second layer that she kept hidden under her clothes. When they broke apart for air, Bethany noticed Gaara watching them curiously, and blushed, turning away. Gaara frowned, cocking his head to the side cutely. Turning back to Yashamaru, he asked: "what were those two boys doing to each other's mouths?" Minato and Kushina sweat-dropped, Itachi smirked, Kuroko fell to the ground anime-style, Sasuke blinked and Bethany turned bright red.

' _Oh boy,'_ she thought, _'this is going to be a long night'_.

To Be Continued


	13. Chapter 12

_**Chapter 12: Pain and Love!**_

Gaara watched the two boys intently. They seemed to be very close, at least, that's what he guessed. The black haired boy gave the blond a box, which, when he opened it, seemed to make the blond haired boy, Naruto, very happy. The black haired boy took a fox pendant that was on a choker out of the box and put it around the other boy's neck. The black haired one whispered something to Naruto, who smiled, turned around to face the other boy and put his lips on the others lips.

After sticking together for a moment, with the black-haired one running his hands through the blonds' hair, the two broke apart, panting slightly. Suddenly Naruto noticed Gaara watching them and turned his face away. Gaara frowned in puzzlement and cocked his head to the side. Turning back to his uncle, he asked innocently: "what were those two boys doing to each other's mouths?" The older blond man and red-haired woman sweat-dropped, the older black-haired boy smirked, the orange haired girl fell to the ground, twitching with her legs up in the air, the younger black-haired boy blinked and Naruto turned bright red.

Yashamaru coughed, his own cheeks lightly pink as well, "I-I'll tell you later, okay? Right now our guests must be starving, right?" he asked, turning to said guests, who all nodded earnestly, trying to get away from the former embarrassing subject. Gaara acceded to the topic change, but still couldn't help the feeling he had when looking at the two boys. His heart felt, warm. Like what they did meant something special, but he just couldn't figure out what it was.

 _ **Ȑ**_

After dinner, a sand storm blew up. Sasuke was playing with Itachi, (what? You can't expect them to be adult and mature all the time) Minato and Kushina were talking with the Kazekage and Kuroko was taking a nap in the Namikaze family guest room, leaving Bethany to walk around and explore the mansion. Coming up to a partly open door, Bethany peeked into the room out of curiosity. Inside the room she saw Gaara, standing in front of his mother's picture that was on his desk with a knife in his hand.

He looked from the picture to the knife, to his other hand. Bethany knew what he was trying to do. He wanted to hurt himself so he could at least feel a little normal like other people. The young woman frowned, didn't this come later? Maybe he had done this a few times in his life, and the time when he was Six was just the last time. Either way, the boy looked determined. Bethany knew he was in no real danger as the sand would protect him, but she was his friend, or wanted to be his friend, she couldn't just let the poor boy suffer like this.

Slightly moving the door so it creaked a little, Bethany waited for Gaara's reaction. The red-head whirled around to see Naruto standing in the doorway. The blond smiled gently, "oh no, don't stop on my account," she said, moving into the room and sitting on the boy's couch. Gaara stared at her without blinking, "you mean, you're not going to try to stop me?" he asked. Bethany shook her head, "no, I'm not," she said in a completely serious voice, "I know you need to do this, to learn and grow, but know this," she stood up and walked over to her fellow Jinchuriki, "I am your friend, and I will always be there for you Gaara, if you ever need to talk, or if you're sad or scared, or if you just want to know that you're not alone," she gently placed her hands on his shoulders, "I will always be your friend" Bethany smiled gently.

Soon, Gaara found himself mirroring her face, though he could never remember feeling this happy before. The young boy suddenly looked nervous, "um, N-Naruto?" he asked tentatively. Bethany cocked her head to the side, what would he want to ask? "w-what does, pain feel like?" he asked. Bethany was shocked, though she didn't show it. In the anime and manga, Gaara hadn't asked that question until he was 6, but here he was asking it when he was 4. Was it simply convenience? Because there hadn't been anyone other than Yashamaru to talk to before, and, while he did take care of him, much of the man's time was taken up by his Shinobi duties.

The young woman pulled herself back to the present quickly enough and answered Gaara's question. "Pain- Isn't something to be envied, when you're hurt, it's usually by something dangerous and harmful to your body. So, the human brain sends warning signs in the form of pain signals to that part of the body, saying: "warning, danger! danger!" In an attempt to get you to move away from the harmful object, and while it may upset you, it's just you bodies way of protecting you in the only way it can" she explained, hoping that this explanation was okay.

Gaara looked down, obviously trying to understand what was being said. Bethany thought for a moment, then had an idea, "here, why don't I show you?" she said, gently taking the knife from his hand. She then made a small cut on her finger, causing Gaara to gasp and stare at the blood intently. Looking up at her face, Gaara saw Bethany wince, but otherwise she seemed unaffected by her injury, "pain like this," she began, displaying her bleeding finger to the boy, "is really only a very small amount of what the human body can process in a single lifetime, the pain tells you that this knife," here she gestured to said object, "is highly dangerous and should be avoided" she explained.

Gaara looked up at her, frowning slightly, "but I can't feel it?" he said, confused. Bethany nodded, "that's because your body has a special protection against things like this," she pointed to him, "your sand, it protects you and covers you like a shield, that's why you have never been hurt from the time of your birth to this very day". Gaara thought about this for a moment, then nodded, signifying that he understood what had been said so far. Bethany nodded as well, smiling at how bright the young boy could be, if only these things were explained to him properly. The blond girl took a breath, preparing to go into the other areas, "but pain isn't all physical, you can experience mental and emotional pain too" she said solemnly.

The boy frowned again, "what do you mean, Naruto?" he asked. Bethany sighed, "well, for starters, mental pain is something you can only feel inside your head, too much mental pain and the possibility of the sufferer going irreversibly insane is highly probable, much like what your "voice" is continuously trying to do". Gaara's eyes widened. The voice was trying to make him go insane? "on the other hand-" the boy was drawn out of his thoughts as Bethany started speaking again, "emotional pain is something completely different, as unlike physical and mental pain, there are no medicines or ready-made cures for this one, and it can be just as crippling as it's other counterparts". The boy's eyes became wide with fear, and he grasped his shirt, over where his heart was. Bethany nodded solemnly, indicating that he was indeed experiencing emotional pain at the moment.

Gaara began to panic, "you mean, there's nothing I can do to get rid of this unbearable pain in my heart?" he asked, beginning to shake, with the starts of tears forming in his eyes. Bethany quickly ran over and held the boy in a soothing hug, "no, no, that's not what I'm saying at all, there's just no scientific method to take it away," she began to rub gentle circles on his back, while letting him sob away the last of his fears. Once Gaara was calm enough, she continued, this time in a more gentle tone, "while it's true that you can't get rid of emotional pain through medicines, there is one way to heal the pain of a broken heart like yours" she said softly. Gaara looked up at her face, "really?" he asked, a little bit of hope beginning to light his eyes. Bethany nodded.

"What is it?" he asked enthusiastically. Bethany smiled wider, and her eyes briefly gained a far off look, as though she was thinking of a happy memory. Then she came back to the present, and she closed her eyes, "it's love, Gaara, love is the only thing that can heal a broken heart, and trust me when I say, you already have plenty of that!" Gaara frowned again, "love?" "Love is, the heart's desire to protect what is most precious to you, for when you have something truly precious that you want to protect above all else, even at the cost of your own life, you can rise above and beyond your own limits, and become truly strong" Bethany explained, modifying Haku's speech about protecting those who are precious to you.

Gaara looked down thoughtfully. Bethany giggled. She didn't expect the boy to understand _everything_ she spoke about; after all he _was_ only Four years old. But she also knew that he was smart for his age, and that even if he didn't understand everything now, he would one day. Besides, with the early explanations, she may have saved him from going insane all together. She really, really, hoped that was the case.

 _To Be Continued_


	14. Chapter 13

_**Chapter 13: Kyo's friend!**_

It had been one day since the family of the Hokage and the Uchiha siblings had arrived in the Hidden Sand Village. Kyo Sohma, or as he now called himself, Kuroko, had adjusted nicely to being a girl. He still had his temper, but found it came more from his new mother than his old personality. Or rather, most people assumed he had taken his anger issues from Kushina. Now, most people would think that it was strange, a person with such a personality like Kyo's to accede to being a girl so easily. But in fact he hadn't taken to it easily at all.

At first, he refused to be called a girl, wear pretty dresses, have long hair or any of that crap. But then he'd had that talk with his 'brother'. _Flashback: Kyo was lying in his cot, glaring up at the ceiling, when he felt someone enter the room. Lying perfectly still, the boy tried to feign sleep. As the person walked up to him Kyo felt a bead of sweat slip down the side of his face. He heard a giggle, "it's okay, I know you're not sleeping, you're chakra flow is all over the place, and even someone having a nightmare doesn't have as active chakra as you" Kyo slowly opened his red eyes to gaze into the blue ones of his older brother._

 _Funny, how those eyes made him feel so calm and safe, like nothing would ever be able to hurt him. He felt the same way about his new 'parent's' as well, but there was something different about Naruto, something, familiar, and familiar meant safety. Naruto smiled, "do you mind if I pick you up?" he asked. Kyo blinked. What did that mean? He was supposed to be a baby, and baby's wouldn't care about being picked up. Unless- he looked up into the other boys eyes again, and nodded. Naruto grinned, "good, I wouldn't want to upset you". Carefully and gently the blond picked him up and held him in his arms, sitting down on the chair next to the cot while doing this._

 _Kyo squirmed a little in his hold, uncomfortable. He'd never really been held like this before. Not that he would remember if he had. After a few minutes, Kyo calmed down in the older boys lap. Naruto smiled, "good, now that we're both comfortable, I can start" Kyo looked up, waiting for what his 'big' brother would have to say. "The truth is, I know that you are a reincarnate like me," he started. Whatever Kyo had been expecting, it wasn't_ _ **that**_ _. The boy smiled down at his confused face, "yes, the truth is, I am actually a girl" she explained. Kyo thought about this, so that was why she didn't always act like a boy. Naruto looked up at the ceiling, a wistful smile on her face. "My name was Bethany Middleton, and I lived in a country and continent called Australia with my Mummy and Daddy, Sharon Ann Middleton, and Paul Edward Middleton," here she paused and looked down at Kyo, "do you understand everything so far?" she asked._

 _Kyo thought about it for a moment then looked back at her and nodded. Bethany smiled gently, "good, anyway, my Mummy died when I was 16 from an infection in her foot," Kyo frowned at that. He knew what it was like to lose a mother, he knew all too well. Bethany took a deep breath and continued, "about a year after that Daddy got a new girlfriend named Michelle, and they were together until I was Eighteen when they got married," Kyo nodded, he thought he knew where this was going. "Five years later when I was twenty-two, Daddy got hit by a car and died," Kyo winced, poor girl, losing both of her parents in such a short amount of time. He was actually reminded a little of Tohru there._

" _That same year I also got hit by a car and died, although I didn't expect to wake up again as "Naruto" but, what can you do" she grinned, "Kaa-Chan and Tou-Chan also know about my past, and you can tell me all about yours as soon as you can talk, I already have a feeling I know who you are" she winked at him. Standing up again, she stretched and gently placed Kyo back into his cot, covering him with the blanket. As she walked out the door, Bethany turned back to him, "you can also act like yourself, as your personality is quite similar to Kushina, our mother's, but still, at least try to act a little like a girl to keep up appearances, perhaps a red bow in your hair to match your eyes, " she cocked her head to the side with two eye-smiles, "no decisions now, you're still too young, just think about it, okay?" Bethany turned off the light and closed the door most of the way, leaving it open a crack._

 _End of flashback._

True, Kyo hadn't worn dresses all the time, mostly a red or orange coloured one over a grey pair of 3-quarter length pants every once in a while, but he did wear a dark red bow in his hair like she had suggested almost every day. Most of the time, though, he was a true Tomboy. Right now for instance he was wearing a pair of black pants that reached his ankles, an orange short-sleeved hoddie with grey sleeves with a white shirt under it that had the Uzumaki spiral on the front and blue sandals. They were Bethany's old clothes, but he had to admit he looked good in them. Wondering around the Sand Village, Kyo wondered what he was going to do today. Suddenly, he heard a cry nearby.

Following the voice, the boy turned girl came upon a group of boys picking on a little girl, about his physical age. She had short brown hair that reached her shoulders, and was wearing a white dress with a blue shoulder cover. But it was when she turned around that he saw something that made his heart beat wilder with- he didn't what emotion it was, joy? love? relief? panic? Or was it all of the above? For that girl looked exactly like his beloved wife, Tohru had at this age. The boys were around two years older than her, at least, and were teasing her by holding what looked like a locket up high where, no matter how hard she tried to jump higher, the girl could never reach it. "Please!" she begged, and Kyo noticed tears running down her face, "please give it back!" she cried, once again trying to jump up and grab her locket.

The boy just laughed cruelly, and tossed it to one of his friends, who laughed and tossed it to another when she moved over to him. On turning to the boy who now held the locket, the girl tripped over a stone on the ground and fell on her face. When she looked up, Kyo could see her start to sob helplessly. That was it. He couldn't and wouldn't take any more! The orange haired girl walked over to the group of boys, "hey!" she called. Upon looking up, the boys all laughed. For, standing in front of them was another little girl with short orange hair and red eyes. One of the boys walked up to Kyo, "hey, girlie, I think you better leave before you get hurt-" he started, grabbing the front of Kyo's jacket, but was stunned when the small girl grabbed his hand in a death grip, twisting it painfully and forcing him to release her jacket.

The boy quickly got over his shock, and looked at Kyo's face to retort, when he caught sight of the girl's eyes. Kyo had a murderous look in his eyes, one that was intensified by the force of his glare, "you shouldn't judge other's on appearance alone, dattebayo" he said in a deceptively soft voice. He then released the boy's hand. Before he had enough time to blink, Kyo was right up in his face, "it could be the last mistake you ever make" he whispered into the boys ear, before bringing his fist up to the boys face, and punching him so hard that he was sure he could hear the boys nose break from the impact. Then he swung his leg out and kicked him in the head- hard. The bully was flung across the street and into a wall.

Kyo landed back on his feet, and glared at the other boys. Safe to say, they all ran away screaming about little girls who were demons. Kyo huffed, cowards. Turning back to the girl on the floor, he gently went to pick up what the boy he had beaten up had dropped- the girl's locket. Kneeling down to face her, Kyo waited until she had calmed down somewhat and opened her eyes to look at him. The memories those bright blue eyes brought up in his heart were almost too much, but Kyo forced a friendly and gentle smile- one he only ever gave to Tohru- on his face and held out the locket. The girl looked from his face to the locket and up to his face again, "here," he said gently, "this is yours, Isn't it?" he asked.

The girl nodded and gave a shaky smile, "th-thank you" she said, happy. Kyo grinned, glad to have made her happy again. He held out his hand and helped her up, "my name's Kuroko, Kuroko Uzumaki Namikaze, youngest child of the Forth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village!" he exclaimed. The girl blushed, clutching her locket, "m-my name is T-Tohru, Tohru, Honda, it's very nice to meet you Namikaze-Sama!" she said the last part a little hurriedly and bowed. Kyo grinned wider, same old Tohru. He closed his eyes and smiled, "hey, no need to be so formal Tohru-Chan, please, just call me Kuroko!" he said, folding his hands behind his head.

Tohru blushed a little, but nodded, "okay, Kuroko-Chan" she said. Kyo unfolded his arms and held out a hand to the girl he'd fallen in love with so long ago. Tohru was hesitant, but she eventually took Kyo's hand into her own, "let's be friends from now on, okay Tohru-Chan?" he asked. Tohru smiled softly, "yes, lets".

The End


	15. Chapter 14

_**Chapter 14: Demon!?**_

On the same day that Kuroko met and befriended Touru, Bethany decided that she and Gaara would play outside. Gaara was understandably nervous, as going outside of his house usually meant being subjected to the villager's hatred and fear. But as long as Naruto was with him, he was sure everything would be alright. Gaara brought Sabaku while Bethany brought Kit-Chan. As they walked Bethany decided to try and take her friend's mind off of the stares everyone was giving them.

Taking out her stuffed Fox, Bethany presented her to Gaara, "hey, look, this is my second best friend, Kit-Chan, isn't she cute!" she exclaimed, displaying the toy. Gaara looked at the small Nine Tailed Fox and nodded, "where did you get her?" he asked curiously. Bethany grinned proudly, "Kaa-Chan made her for me when I was two years old!" Gaara blushed and looked down at Sabaku, "so did my uncle" he said shyly. The boy still wasn't used to prolonged enthusiastic conversation with people.

Bethany looked around, "is their anywhere to sit?" she asked. Gaara looked around. They had arrived at the public playground and the swings were free. Walking over and sitting down on one, Bethany followed and sat on the other. Swinging slowly, Gaara looked up at the children who were playing together with a ball in the ally way in front of the park. Bethany looked around, things sure were quiet. "Hey, Gaara" she said quietly, also staring at the other children. The red-head looked up curiously, wondering what his friend was going to say.

Bethany stared ahead for a moment, and Gaara thought he wasn't going to continue, when he spoke up again, this time much quieter: "do you, like it here?" he asked. Gaara frowned, what did he mean, like it here? "I know, It's not perfect, no place is, and I also know how the villagers treat you," Gaara looked down, how could he not have seen the looks that were being sent their way? He probably hated him now. "You know, I get the same looks in my village," Gaara's head snapped up so quickly Bethany was sure she had heard it crack, "it's not as bad as it is here of course, but still, it is painful," she took a deep wavering breath, bringing her hand up to clutch her heart, like he himself had done so many times before.

"My father is the Hokage of the Leaf Village, and most people of my village hail him as a hero for sealing the Nine Tailed Fox inside of me on the day of my birth, but there are a small portion of villagers and Shinobi in my home who think of me the way yours do," she clenched her teeth, "like a demon, and a monster" the last part was said so quietly that Gaara almost wasn't sure he had said it, "don't get me wrong, a lot of them love me, but those who don't-" she brought her other hand up and covered her eyes with it, then gave a sad smile, "I don't know, despite having the love of my family and friends, the hatred is still there and it just hurts sometimes" she shuddered, then looked up and smiled gently.

Raising her hand, she put it on his shoulder, "well, shall we go home now Gaara?" she asked. Gaara blinked, then nodded. Just as they were about to leave, they heard an: "aw man!" behind them. Turning, Bethany saw that the children's ball had been kicked so hard by one of them that it had landed on top of one the buildings making up the ally. Bethany looked over at Gaara, who was staring at the ball as though in a trance. Slowly he rose from his seat. _'uh oh, I better do something before he gets hurt again"_ she thought. She gave his shoulder a light squeeze. Snapping out of it, he looked over at Bethany. She did a thumbs up, "don't worry, I've got it" she said, releasing his shoulder.

The other boy nodded, and picked up Sabaku while he waited. Bethany ran over to the wall, rushing past the surprised children, who felt the wind pass them. Turning around, they caught sight of Gaara standing there. Before any of them had time to panic though, a voice called out to them from above, "hey, this your ball?" The group of terrified and confused children looked back up to see a blond boy standing on top of the wall holding their ball with one hand, and looking down at them with a wide grin on his face.

The five kids looked torn between answering or running for their lives. Or attempting to anyway. "Hey, brats!" the group looked up again at the blond who was now frowning; "didn't your parents ever teach you that it's very rude to ignore someone when they've asked you a question? Now is this your ball or not?" he asked, sounding annoyed. One boy, who seemed to be the leader, walked forward, "wh- what are you just standing there for? You're some kinda Ninja right? Then help us get past the monster over their!" he exclaimed, pointing towards Gaara with a terrified look on his face. Gaara flinched at the word 'monster' and even Bethany felt saddened. Oh how far the world had fallen.

"What 'monster' might you be referring too? All I see is my now very sad _friend_ Gaara" she said, stressing the word 'friend' as if that weren't obvious enough to anyone. "W-what? That thing is your _friend_? No one ever wants to be near Gaara, you must be a monster too!" he cried, taking a step back in fright. Bethany growled and jumped down from the wall, causing the kids to flinch. The girl shushined to Gaara's side, putting an arm around said boys shoulder, her eyes softening for a moment. Then she turned to face the idiot kids behind her, "here!" she said, popping the ball with one chakra infused hand, and tossing the now useless toy at the nearest boy. It flopped to the sandy ground in front of him, while Bethany led the distraught red-head away.

"You okay, Gaara?" she whispered, once they were far enough away. Gaara nodded and dried his eyes, "y-yeah, thank you for that" he said, calming down. Bethany cocked her head to the side, for once genuinely curious, "for what?" she asked. Gaara looked up at her face, "for sticking up for me and calling me your friend," he sniffed, "no one's ever done that for me before" Bethany smiled softly, then grinned, "well you better be ready for a lot more defending, because I have no intention of letting any of my friends suffer if I can help it, and that includes you, Ai-Chan" Gaara smiled back, then noticed something, "Ai-Chan?" he asked curiously. Bethany grinned wider, "yeah, Ai-Chan, it's a nickname, the Ai comes from the a that's before the r in your name," she turned to face the young boy, "it means love, Gaara" the red-haired boy blinked, then smiled gently, "thank you, Naru-Chan" if possible, Bethany's grin got even wider, "no problem, friend".

 _ **Ȑ**_

Unfortunately as they walked back to Gaara's house, the glares and hatred were worse than ever. Even Bethany was beginning to waver under their intensity. Gaara felt miserable. He was the one they hated, no one who was looking at them was aware that his friend held the Nine Tails, and yet, Naruto still got the same horrible treatment here as in his own village. As the two continued walking Bethany felt more and more hopeless. How could these people treat them like this? After seeing everything Gaara went through first-hand, she couldn't believe that he had not only wanted to, but did become Kazekage in the future. And a Kazekage that was willing to risk everything for his village and people at that!

' _No'_ she thought, _'the very fact that Gaara cared so much about them that he would protect this village and it's people like that shows just how kind and pure-hearted he really is, if these idiots don't see that until then, then they're just the most idiotic and worthless of human kind'_. They arrived at the Kazekage's house before too long, to both Gaara and Bethany's immense relief. Suddenly: "hey, demon!" Bethany and Gaara turned around just in time to see a paper bomb attached to a kunai thrown their way. KABOOM! The force of the explosion ripped the two apart, depositing Bethany a few feet away. Thankfully she wasn't hurt much, but she was knocked unconscious.

As for Gaara, he landed badly. The sand caught him, but he landed on his leg and it bent all the way. In the wrong direction that is. A sickening crack was heard as Gaara's leg broke, and the scream that echoed throughout the village was the loudest the young boy had in him. As a man walked towards him, Gaara's last thought was, _'oh god *gasp* is this pain?'_ then something was slapped onto his forehead and Gaara knew no more.

 _To Be Continued_


	16. Chapter 15

_**Chapter 15: Emergency! Yashamaru takes a stand!**_

Yashamaru was worried. No, the more exact definition of his current emotional state would be terrified. Both Gaara and Naruto had been gone for hours, it was already dark. Minato and Kushina were also worried. Kuroko had come back a few hours ago, but their other daughter was still out. Now, normally, Yashamaru wouldn't worry so much. Gaara could protect Naruto, and if something did happen to the blond boy, his Nephew would already have either been home, banging on the door to get his uncles attention, or would have sent a message using his sand.

But hours had passed and there was no sign of either of them. Then there had been a knock at the door. When a frazzled Yashamaru had answered it, he found not two boys grinning sheepishly. Not even one boy, crying furiously while supporting an injured one. No, all he found was one single envolope, addressed to the Kazekage. Opening and reading the letter with shaky hands, the brother-in-law of the fourth Kazekage felt all the blood drain from his face.

 _ **Ȑ**_

Yashamaru had rushed straight to the Kazekage's office, "Kazekage-Sama!" he exclaimed, bursting through the door without bothering to knock. The Kazekage looked up, annoyed by the interruption, "what is it, Yashamaru?" he asked, irritation lacing his voice. Yashamaru stood for a moment, his face pale as Gaara's, and handed the note to his leader.

The Kazekage took the note and read it calmly: _'Kazekage, we have taken the liberty to capture the Hokage's son as well as your own for insurance. If you ever want to see this brat of yours alive again, I suggest you tell the Hokage to meet us at our hideout,'_ there were a list of coordinates, which the man skimmed without interest, before beginning to read again: _"have the Hokage come alone and we'll gladly hand over the brats, but if you refuse our deal or disobey our orders, you can say bye bye to the two babies'_.

The leader of the Hidden Sand Village looked up at his brother-in-law. "Yashamaru," he said calmly, "tell the Hokage about this so that he can go get his son back, we don't want to start a war with the Hidden Leaf" The young blond man nodded and turned to leave, while the Kazekage went back to his business. Suddenly, Yashamaru stopped, "but, Kazekage-Sama, what about Gaara?" he asked, worry clear in his voice. The Kazekage didn't look up from his paperwork, "what of Gaara?" he asked disinterestedly. Yashamaru shook slightly at that clear dismissal of his Nephew's life, "I mean, how are we going to get him back, he was captured too" he said with a soft voice, clearly trying to hold back his anger.

His leader didn't even flinch as he said: "Gaara is unstable, and would have had to have been dealt with sooner or later, this way though, we don't have to waste our forces and resources, the problem will be taken care of for us" Yashamaru paled in anger, "you're saying," he said, his rage clear in his voice, "that you won't rescue Gaara, your **son** , the child my sister, your wife gave her life to bring into this world, the boy who you doomed since the day he was born to a life of loneliness and torture, because he's _unstable_?" he asked. The sandy blond whirled around, practically seething in rage, _"you're the one who made him unstable!"_ he shouted. The Kazekage rose from his seat, and Yashamaru, aware that he had just screamed at this extremely powerful man, a man who could end his life in an instant, shrank back in terror. The Wind Shadow slowly walked around his desk, causing his brother-in-law to begin to shake violently and look down at the ground, "K-Kazekage-Sama, I-I-I'm s-sorry, I s-swear I didn't mean to-" the Kazekage held up his hand, and Yashamaru fell silent.

"You want to rescue Gaara?" he asked softly, immediately causing Yashamaru to be more on edge that he already was, "you want to save the life of a threat to our very existence?" Yashamaru clenched his hands, waiting for the man to hit him or worse. The Kazekage stared down at him with a blank gaze, "that's fine, but I won't have you two returning to this village," he said, turning and walking back to his desk, "you can do what you want, I don't care, but return here again for anything but the Chunin exams or similar, and I will have you killed on sight as traitor's to this village," he looked up, his gaze stony, "do I make myself clear?" he asked. Yashamaru was still frozen in fear, but managed to snap himself out of it in time to nod to his- former, leader.

The Kazekage smirked, not that you could see it under his mask, "good, now leave" he said bluntly in his usual voice, dismissing the man with a wave of his hand. Yashamaru nodded and bowed, then left without a word.

 _ **Ȑ**_

Bethany slowly woke up to find herself in a dark room. Upon looking around, she found that the room was actually a prison cell. The young blond shot up in panic, wondering where the heck she was. Looking over to the side of the prison, she found another cell identical to the one she was in. Inside was someone who was tied up completely, mostly around the torso and up to the shoulders. The person was hanging a few feet above the ground, with ropes not only tying him up, but also attaching him to the cell, that's how he was suspended.

Hearing a small whimper, Bethany looked closer at her fellow prison-mate, and, after spotting the bright red hair, found it to be Gaara. "Gaara!" she called worriedly, "are you alright?" The boy looked up, and the young woman could see the twin trails of tears falling down his cheeks. "N-Naruto," he said quietly, "it, hurts" Gaara began sobbing quietly again. Bethany's eyes were drawn to her friends left leg. It was twisted and seemed to be broken. Bethany felt a surge of deep hatred well up inside of her. Who the hell were these people that had kidnapped them to do that to Gaara?

Kurama perked up inside of her, "sorry, no chakra this time Bethany, both of our chakra has been completely sealed" he grumbled. Bethany growled lowly, _'I don't care, those bastards hurt Gaara, and they're going to pay, one way, or the other!'_ she thought back viciously. Suddenly the door that led out of the room that the cells were located in was opened and bright light blinded them.

 _ **Ȑ**_

When the door opened, Bethany heard a muffled sob, and she knew that Gaara was absolutely terrified. As she turned to glare at their captors, the young woman felt her eyes widen when she saw who was standing in front of them. Pein, or Pain/Nagato and Konan. _'What?'_ she thought, _"why are they here? What do they want?'_ she wondered furiously. Bethany was undecided between glaring or staring in shock. Gaara whined slightly in fear, and Nagato turned to him.

The boy shrank back as much as he was able in his confines under the blank stare of those alien eyes. The man then turned back to Bethany, and spoke: "Naruto," he said quietly, almost -gently. Bethany looked up, unsure of what was going on. Then the Rinnegan wielder did something unexpected. He smiled. Actually smiled. It was a small smile, but gentle and kind, not something the young woman had expected to see, especially not from Nagato, "it's been a while since I last saw you, or rather, the future you," he said. He slowly walked up to her cage and knelt down in front of her, she was still small after all, "do you know who I am?" he asked. Bethany blinked, unsure what to make of that question, but, if he was from the future then- "you're the pseudo leader of an organisation called Akatski, alias Pain or Pein, real name-" she hesitated, but at the man's nod, continued "is Nagato" Nagato smiled again, "that's right," he said softly, "I see the future you was telling the truth after all, you do know about us".

Bethany looked from the orange haired man over to Gaara, who was now in the middle of a healing session with Konan. The boy was sobbing desperately in the woman's arms as a paper clone gently healed his broken leg. Looking back to Nagato, she said, "so, if you and Konan are helping us escape, I'm assuming we were captured by Akatski?" she asked calmly. Now that she knew Gaara was going to be okay, and they were in no immediate danger, she was significantly calmer than she had been just moments before. Nagato nodded. "Don't worry, we have no intention of betraying or hurting you, so you can relax now" Bethany let out the breath she was holding and relaxed almost immediately. But not completely. She knew what happened to Shinobi who let their guard down in enemy territory, not to mention in the presence of the enemy. And she was anything but an idiot.

Nagato regarded the boy in front of him carefully. While younger and smaller, this version of the boy who had convinced him that pain was not the path to peace, and had sent them back in time was still cautious and showed all the signs of being a perfect Shinobi in future. As he stood up, Bethany looked over at Gaara who was now breathing normally and had bandages wrapped around his knee. Tightly. Konan was helping the boy onto her back, probably to carry him since he would be too slow on foot. Looking back up to Nagato, she felt a question on her mind. Feeling a tug on the sleeve of his robes, Nagato looked down at Bethany, "are you the only ones here at the moment?" she asked. Nagato grinned slightly, "well, not completely," he gestured to the outside of the room and an orange head popped in. Bethany blinked, slightly in shock at noticing there were two Yahiko's.

"Hello, you must be Naruto then, I'm Yahiko" he said quietly but loudly at the same time. Bethany sweat-dropped at this. Apparently, Nagato had found some way to save Yahiko in this time. Nagato chuckled, and Bethany almost choked. Okay, that was not a normal sound for him. "Don't worry, I'll explain everything later, right now though, we have to get you two out of here and back to where you belong" the young woman agreed to that whole-heartedly, and the three Shinobi and two boys rushed out of the room. Nagato was impressed by Naruto's speed, he himself was always the fastest out of their group, and yet this boy, who wasn't even up to his waist in height was easily keeping up with him. Well, he _was_ the son of the Yellow Flash after all.

Bethany on the other hand, was still on edge. If these people weren't going to betray them, then something else was going to happen, she could feel it. And her feelings were never wrong.

 _To Be Continued_


	17. Chapter 16

_**Chapter 16: Rescue!**_

Bethany and the Ame trio ran through the halls of the Akatski hideout. Gaara was much calmer now, and was even attempting to come up with a technique that could serve as a warning for them. Bethany of course, was sure that it was his sand eye, and if he _could_ create it in time, he would save them a lot of trouble in their attempts to escape. Focussing his chakra to his left eye, Gaara placed his pointer and middle finger over the eye-lid, "the optic nerve is connected," he murmured quietly, "third eye, open" sand gathered in his right palm, and he transformed it into an exact replica of a human eye ball.

A sheen went over the surface of the eye, and the boy removed his fingers. Looking over at her friend, Bethany asked gently, "are you alright Gaara?" Panting slightly, Gaara nodded, "yes, it just took a little more chakra than I thought" he replied, before regaining his breath. The boy clenched his fist and the sand eye scattered into grains, only to reform at the end of the hall, where it peered around the corner. "Okay, it's clear for now" Gaara whispered. Nagato, Yahiko, Konan, with Gaara on her back and Bethany all continued running through the corridors, with Gaara's Third Eye guiding them all the way. "Stop!" he suddenly whispered, and the party, all being highly trained Shinobi halted in their tracks immediately and silently.

Bethany wondered who it would be and if they'd have to fight them. Suddenly Gaara frowned in confusion. "What?" Bethany asked urgently. Gaara blinked, "I don't know, there was a man standing there with Akatski robes and an orange face mask, but then he suddenly disappeared" Bethany's mind had gone blank at "orange face mask" so she almost didn't sense the figure behind her until it was too late. Key word, almost. The small blond whipped around at the last second, drawing a kunai from the pouch of the person closest to her, which just so happened to be Yahiko, and expertly parried the kunai that had been headed for her upper spine. All Shinobi jumped away in preparation for battle as sparks flew from the clash of the mini blonds kunai against that of the masked man.

Gaara gasped as his only friend leapt back, the deadly blade clenched in his hand in the reverse position, with a fierce scowl on his face. "So, it's you" he growled. The man stood there, completely unfazed, and cocked his head to the side, "oh, Naru-Chan," he said in an overly childish and idiotic voice, "is that any way to treat someone who hasn't seen you in such a long time?" he whined. Bethany growled viciously, her glare intensifying, "cut the crap already, you worthless bastard, you're not fooling anyone!" she snarled. The masked man scoffed, and you just knew he was smirking under that damn mask, "very well, if that's what you'd like, I'll be more than happy to oblige" he stated, and his voice had not only gotten deeper, but also more menacing and Gaara suddenly got the feeling he wouldn't want to know what this man was capable of.

Bethany crouched, ready for any attack the man could unleash. All but one. Killing intent blasted out and hit Bethany like a ton of bricks, crashing down on her and knocking the breath out of her momentarily. It wasn't for long, after all she had been subjected to the killing intent of the worthless villagers almost her whole life, and even from Kurama, in passing. But it was enough to stun her for a moment or two, and before the young woman could pull herself together, the masked man had locked eyes with her, the red of his Mangekyo Sharingan piercing through her and sucking her mind into its endless torture.

 _ **Ȑ**_

Opening her eyes, Bethany gasped, completely terrified for the first time in her life. She knew where she was, and what was to happen next. The red and grey sky, along with the grey and black world gave it away easily. This was Tsukuyomi, the world of nightmares. Bethany shivered, wondering what horrible visions that bastard was going to force her to watch, or what nightmarish experience he was going to put her through. Peering around herself cautiously, the young woman found herself unable to move an inch. Everything around her was pitch black. "Tick tock, tick tock, three days little girl until you wake up," said a mocking tone from beside her. Turning her head to the side, Bethany saw the masked man sitting a few feet away from her.

"W-what are you going to do to me?" she asked, unable to keep the fear out of her voice. She clearly heard the 'girl' comment, but was too scared to ask about it. Right now she had other worries. The man chuckled darkly, sending shivers of pure terror through Bethany's body, and turned his masked face to her terrified eyes, his now grey Sharingan eye boring into her heart and tearing at her already shredded nerves, "you'll see" he said sweetly. Then he vanished, leaving Bethany to whatever horror's he had concocted for her. Soon a figure appeared before her, and Bethany was shocked to see it was Sasuke, pre-teen version. Bethany knew that this version of Sasuke wasn't here to be kind to her, but she still wasn't prepared for the immediate response of her boyfriends double. Sasuke shot forward, Chidori charged and ready, slamming the attack through her shoulder, and causing the girl to scream in agony.

Grey blood dripped down her chin and out the hole in her chest as Sasuke ripped his arm out of her flesh and gripped Bethany's throat in an unrelenting hold. "Naruto," he said coldly, "you always were the optimistic fool," Bethany felt tears pool in her eyes, as fake Sasuke's words ripped through her heart like a kunai, tearing through her with careless cruelty. _'This isn't real'_ she thought desperately, _'it's all an illusion, a fake, Sasuke would never really do this, not to me- would he?'_ however, even as she thought this, Bethany couldn't help the stab of pain she felt as her lover continued to torture her with words of hate. "worthless brat, you'll never understand what I've gone through, what I've lost, you just live in your happy little world, where everything is always perfect and friendly, while having no idea of what it's like to lose a mother and a father, an entire family, how could you possibly know what it feels like to lose all that!?" he shouted, kicking the young woman in the stomach, and sending her into the dark ground.

Bethany coughed up blood, she was sure she'd felt a few ribs break from that impact. Sasuke slowly walked up to her, as the young woman shed silent tears. Lifting her up again, Sasuke smirked, "my days of playing ninja with you kids of the Leaf Village are over," he said darkly as Bethany slowly opened her eyes to stare at her lover's face. All she saw was cold hatred for everything she was, and it hurt so much. "It's not the future I dream of anymore, only the past," Pre-teen Sasuke morphed into Teenage Sasuke, who slowly drew his sword and aimed it at her heart. "Now, Naruto, I will end you!" he cried, bringing the sword down with intent to kill.

Bethany screamed.

 _ **Ȑ**_

Gaara heard the scream of utter agony erupt from Naruto's mouth, just before he saw him collapse to the ground. Turning his head over in the blonds' direction, he saw his friend on the ground sobbing loudly and clutching his head as though he was the one with Shukaku inside him. The boy was almost in hysterics as he passed out. "Naruto!" he cried, but was unable to go to the other boy because of his leg. "Bansho Tenin!" a voice called, and Naruto's body was drawn towards Nagato, who caught the small boy, and trust him behind himself for safety.

Diverting his eyes from the battle being waged between the now enraged Nagato and Yahiko and the masked man, Gaara stared helplessly down at the boy who had become his first friend. Naruto was limp in his arms, and had emotionless almost lifeless eyes. _'Not lifeless,'_ he thought to himself furiously, _'he is not dead, he can't be!'_ Gaara shook his head, and placed two of his fingers on the blonds neck. One of the good things about having a member of the Hidden Sand Village medical Corp's for an uncle, you tend to pick up on a few things. Carefully the boy checked for a pulse, finally finding a heartbeat. Faint, but defiantly there, Gaara let out a relieved breath at knowing Naruto was still alive.

Nagato growled, "what did you do to Naruto, you damn fake?" he asked, eyes narrowing dangerously in the masked mans direction. The man chuckled, and Gaara wondered what was so damn funny, "I simply showed him what his future held, you know for all that boys strength, he still has a pitifully weak mind, it wasn't even much of a challenge breaking him, although it was fun," he laughed outright now, and Gaara wondered how someone so insane could possibly be the leader of anything. The man turned his masked face to Gaara, who was still cradling Naruto protectively in his arms, "now, I not only have the Nine Tails in my possession, but also the One Tail, how lucky they were both in the Hidden Sand Village, when I went to go capture _you_ little boy".

Gaara shivered at the man's tone, afraid for his life for the first time ever. For as long as Gaara could remember, the sand had always protected him. But now he'd felt pain, and he believed that this man might actually be able to kill him. He was afraid, so afraid. _'Yashamaru! Minato-Sama, Kushina-Sama, someone, anyone, please save us!'_ he thought, as Nagato and Yahiko braced themselves for round two.

 _To Be Continued_


	18. Chapter 17

_**Chapter 17: Recap- part 1!**_

Bethany slowly opened her eyes to a white ceiling. Looking around, she realised that she must be in the Sand Villages hospital. The young woman groaned and attempted to sit up, but she was too exhausted and stiff. "So, it looks like it worked then" said a new voice. Bethany knew she hadn't heard it before in her new life, but it still sounded familiar. Turning to face the mystery voice, Bethany felt her eyes widen as she caught sight of Tsunade of the Sanin standing over her.

"Tsunade-Sama? W-what are you doing here, where's everyone else?" she asked, slightly panicking and attempting to sit up. The older blond woman pushed the young blond back down into the bed with surprising gentleness, "easy, you've just barely recovered from severe mental stress, and you need to get some proper rest" she said. Bethany stopped struggling and lay back down on the bed, "but, why are you here?" she persisted. "That would be thanks to me, Naruto" said a voice that was more easily recognised by the young woman.

Sasuke Uchiha slowly walked toward her from his place in the shadows of the door. "Sasuke!" Bethany called, relieved. Suddenly, a memory from the Masked Man's Tsukuyomi overlapped her sight. Sasuke, at Twelve years of age, covered in blood- her blood, as he ripped his Chidori charged hand from her shoulder, Sasuke, at Seventeen aiming his sword for her heart, neither remorse nor mercy clouding his features. Only endless dark hatred, for her especially. Sasuke noticed his Boyfriends blank look and frowned. Stopping at her bedside, the boy slowly reached out for her shoulder, only intending to give it a light shake to bring her back to reality.

But so great was the force and fear of the memory, that the moment the blond saw the hand reaching for her shoulder, her eyes widened in terror, and her mind instantly coated the hand in lightning. As fast as her ninja reflexes would allow, Bethany's own hand shot out, gripped Sasuke's wrist, twisted it painfully and threw the boy onto the ground, where he cried out in shock and pain. Sasuke's cry woke Bethany from her panic induced vision, and the Sasuke Uchiha from her nightmare was replaced with the one lying on the ground and trying painfully to regain his footing. Bethany gasped with horror at what she'd done and shot out of the bed and to her lover's side in an instant, "Sasuke, are you alright, I'm so sorry, I swear I didn't mean to!" she moaned, carefully helping the young Uchiha back to his feet, "It's just- what I saw- it was awful Sasuke, I was so scared!" she cried, collapsing into his arms and sobbing with terror, pain, relief, guilt and so many other emotions all at once.

Sasuke sighed, he'd question Naruto more on his strange behaviour later. After all, throwing someone to the ground and then sobbing about it was not normally the first thing someone did upon waking from a coma, especially if said person thrown to the ground was the other person's boyfriend. Oh well, Naruto looked like he was about to collapse again soon anyway. Gently placing the blond into bed, Sasuke ran his fingers through the second layer of long hair Naruto hid under his clothes. The Uchiha wasn't sure when he'd started growing it out, but he had to say, it looked very good on Naruto. "Sasuke," Bethany whispered, just before she lost consciousness again. "Hm?" the other boy asked, "you'll- never leave me, right?" Sasuke looked over at the boy he had grown to love with all his heart, "no Naruto, never, I'll always be with you, for as long as I live" he said softly, kissing Naruto gently on the lips to avoid waking him.

Bethany smiled peacefully, finally letting sleep take her once again. Tsunade watched the two boys with gentle eyes, _'so, that's Naruto Namikaze, huh? Interesting boy to be sure'_ she thought, before she left the room and closed the door quietly.

 _ **Ȑ**_

When Bethany woke up next it was with great alarm and terror filling every fibre of her being. Looking around herself cautiously, the young woman found herself once again in her bed at the Sand Villages hospital. Looking to the side Bethany saw a neatly folded piece of paper on the bedside table. Picking it up and opening it gingerly, Bethany read the small letter: _'Dear Naruto, if you are reading this then it means you've woken up again, and I still haven't come back from my walk. Don't worry, I should be back soon, also, your parent's are discussing your kidnapping with the Kazekage, but they came to visit you once you'd been brought safely back to the village, and were relieved and worried about you at the same time, but they should be done soon, and come to visit again once their meeting's over.'_ Bethany nodded, understandable, with the recant kidnapping by the Akatski within The Hidden Sand's own walls, she assumed her parents would have a lot to talk about with the Kazekage. Looking back down at the note, she finished reading: _'PS, Gaara and Yashamaru have also come to see you, but have been kept away by the nurses, and Itachi's beating himself up over allowing you to be captured so easily. As for Kuroko, I suspect she's dealing with this in her own way, though I haven't seen her since we got back with Tsunade-Sama, love you always, Sasuke'_.

Bethany smiled gently. Sasuke really was always there for her. Leaning back into her pillow, the small blond covered her eyes with her arm and sighed deeply. Damn this was all so messed up. Just then her hospital door opened, and Bethany froze for a moment, before recognising the chakra signature now in the room with her. Uncovering her eyes, Bethany found Minato standing at the door with Kit-Chan and a big fox toy in his arms. Bethany smiled at the sight, "is this room protected?" she asked. At Minato's nod, Bethany smiled wider, but only just a little, "thank you, Daddy" she said honestly as the blond Hokage walked towards his daughter. Placing the toys down on the bed, Minato pulled the girl into a gentle embrace, "oh, Bethany, we're all so glad you're safe!" he exclaimed tearfully. The young woman hugged her father back. Slowly releasing her, Minato placed Kit-Chan in Bethany's lap, and displayed the new stuffed fox.

This one, unlike Kit-Chan had two tails, and was much bigger. Also it was easier for Bethany to tell that this toy had been store bought, where-as Kit-Chan had been hand made for her by Kushina. But Bethany still loved the new toy anyway. Grinning happily, Bethany took the bigger fox and made it hold Kit-Chan, "this is Mizuki, Kit-Chan's Mummy, she takes care of her when she's sad" she explained while giggling. Minato smiled at his daughter's purity. Despite being mature and smart for her age, the girl was still a child, and that was so important for someone like her. Suddenly, Bethany stopped playing, and she looked up at Minato with such a serious look on her face, that the Hokage unconsciously straightened his back. "Hokage-Sama," she said gravely, "there is something urgent I must discuss with you". Minato nodded, all signs of playfulness gone.

 _ **Ȑ**_

The Fourth Hokage, hailed as a genius among geniuses, stared dumbstruck at his daughter. If what she said was true then- Minato shivered, he didn't even want to think about what could happen if she were right. "So, what you're saying is that the masked man, the same one who I fought on the night of your rebirth, is the one behind the Akatsuki?" he asked. Bethany nodded, "that's not all, remember the three I told you about?" she asked. Minato nodded, "Nagato, going by his alias Pain now, Yahiko and Konan, the three who Jiriya Sensei trained during the Third Great Ninja War were somehow sent back in time by an unknown Ninjutsu by you that you have yet to develop in this time to assist you?" Bethany nodded again, "they're the ones who freed us, and I also have a sneaking suspicion that masked bastard came back as well, see, when he trapped me in Tsukuyomi, he called me little girl, that means he knows about me, and if he were from the future, that would explain a lot about the things he knows," Minato nodded, but noticed his daughter seemed hesitant to tell him the rest of the information, "Bethany?" he asked softly.

The girl looked up at her father and her eyes were steely, "that's not all, I also know who the masked man really is," she said gravely. Minato blinked, "really is? You mean he isn't Madara Uchiha?" he asked. Bethany bowed her head, "he is an Uchiha to be sure, but just not Madara," she paused, as though she were trying to figure out how to best phrase her next choice of words. Bethany closed her eyes, "that masked man, is someone you know very well, someone who you thought had died a long time ago," she paused again, and took a deep breath, opening her eyes to stare into her father's eyes that were so much like her own, "the masked man is Obito Uchiha".

To Be Continued


	19. Chapter 18

_**Chapter 18: Recap- part 2!**_

Bethany and the group from the Hidden Leaf stood at the gate to the Hidden Sand Village, saying goodbye to a tearful Gaara and Yashamaru. Kuroko was saying goodbye to a girl she had made friends with while there. Gaara sniffed and stood close to his uncle. He had recovered from his broken leg a while ago and was now able to walk just fine. The boy that Bethany had become such close friends with was shaking as he cried, "do you h-have to go?" he asked. Bethany smiled sadly, "yes, I'm afraid we do Gaara, but don't worry, we can write letters to each other until we see each other again, right?" she asked, cheerfully.

Gaara wiped his eyes and nodded, hugging Sabaku tighter as Yashamaru held his hand. The sandy blond smiled down at his youngest Nephew, "yes, and don't forget Gaara, we can always go and visit him once we move, right?" he asked. Minato had told Bethany about the Kazekage's orders for Yashamaru and Gaara to leave the Sand Village once they'd gotten back. Everyone had decided that it would be best for the two to move to the Hidden Leaf. Gaara sniffed and nodded again. Everyone said their final goodbyes and the Hidden Leaf party departed for home.

 _ **Ȑ**_

As they walked, Bethany fell into step beside Sasuke. The black-haired boy looked up at the other boy, "hey, Naruto, what's up?" he asked, smiling. Bethany grinned back, "I was just wondering what happened while I was in a coma, can you tell me?" she asked. Sasuke frowned, "are you sure you want to know, it's a long story?" he asked. Bethany nodded and smiled, "yes, don't worry, it's a long trip!" she said, beaming. Sasuke nodded, "all right, well, this is how it started,"

Flashback:

 _Sasuke was sitting in the Kazekage's house with Itachi. It had been around three days since Naruto and Gaara had been kidnapped by the Akatski, and he was insanely worried. To try and keep his mind off things, the two brothers were playing some of the many games Gaara owned. The one they were currently playing was Connect Four, and Itachi had beaten Sasuke every round they played. Currently they were in the middle of their fifth round, and, surprise, surprise (note the sarcasm!), Itachi was winning. Carefully scanning the rows of three, the younger of the two spotted a diagonal row that his brother could make four with on his next turn._

 _Grinning, Sasuke placed his red token in the slot, certain that he'd at least stopped his brother from winning for a turn. Itachi picked up a yellow token and looked along the rows of three. Catching sight of a vertical row of three his brother obviously missed, what with the way he was grinning right now, the older of the two smirked, "hey, Sasuke, want to increase the bet?" he asked. Sasuke crossed his arms, a look of triumph on his face, "sure, if you're up for that!" Itachi laughed inwardly at his little brother. Sasuke was about to crash and burn. "Okay, if I win, not only do I get all your desert tonight, but you have to clean my room for a week" he said. Sasuke nodded, confident that he would win this time, "you're on!" he exclaimed. Itachi smiled calmly and placed his token in the slot, making four yellow tokens in a row, "connect four, I win" he said._

 _Sasuke gapped. Then started opening and closing his mouth, like a fish. Itachi laughed outright at that, "cockiness is a weakness Sasuke, don't forget that" he said, reaching over and poking Sasuke in the forehead with his pointer and middle finger. Sasuke pouted, rubbing his forehead with his hand._

 _Suddenly, someone burst into the room. Itachi immediately took a defensive position in front of Sasuke, only to calm down when he saw Yashamaru standing in front of them. His sigh of relief, quickly turned into worry however, upon noticing the man's upset and worn out expression. Stepping forward cautiously, Itachi gulped, knowing he really wouldn't like the answer, but felt he had to ask anyway: "Yashamaru-San? What's wrong, where are_ _Naruto-Kun and Gaara?" he asked. The boy looked around, "where is everyone for that matter?" he asked, worriedly._

 _Yashamaru looked grave, "Naruto and Gaara are in the hospital, Gaara has a broken leg, and Naruto is in a coma" he explained. Sasuke looked shocked, before his face gained an almost murderous look, "Naruto is in a coma? How? Why? Tell me what happened!" he cried, getting up with a jump. Yashamaru nodded, "I'll tell you both on the way, we just got them back to the Village, so Minato-Sama and Kushina-San are both there with them" he explained. Both boys quickly grabbed their coats, as it was night-time, and very cold._

 _ **Ȑ**_

 _Standing in front of Naruto's bed, Sasuke stared down at the blonds face. He looked like he was just sleeping, but the boy's eyes were scrunching up minutely, showing that he was in large amounts of pain. The med-nins had told them that Naruto had been hit with a very powerful Genjutsu. So powerful in fact, that he was still experiencing the visions it gave him in his coma. Sasuke trembled with rage at that. How_ _ **dare**_ _someone torment and torture_ _ **his**_ _boyfriend. The Uchiha whirled on the doctor's, "if he's in such bad shape, then stop telling us about it and heal him!" he seethed._

 _The medical staff looked at each other, then back to the boy, "I'm sorry, but no one here has the amount of chakra control or expertise needed to heal your friend's mind, so I'm afraid that there's nothing we can do for him" The boy narrowed his eyes in anger, "then who_ _ **does**_ _have the ability?" he asked. One of the med-nins sighed, "I'm afraid that the only one who could help him is the Slug Sanin of the Leaf, Tsunade-Sama" she said. Sasuke blinked. He knew of the Legendary Sanin, Naruto knew one, Jiriya, the Toad Sage, who had been his father's Sensei. Sasuke turned to Itachi, "Itachi-Nii, do you think we could get Jiriya-Sama to bring Tsunade-Sama here so she can heal Naruto?" he asked hopefully._

 _Itachi shook his head, "I'm afraid I don't know, Sasuke, perhaps it's possible, but I couldn't know for sure" he said. Sasuke looked back at Naruto, lying so cold and alone, and made up his mind. Turning back to Itachi, Sasuke had a determined glint in his eyes, "I am going to bring her back Nii-San, I swear!" he said._

 _ **Ȑ**_

 _The black-haired boy walked to the room that Naruto usually shared with his family, and knocked on the door, silently hoping that someone was there. His prayers were answered when a few minutes later, the door was opened by Naruto's little sister, Kuroko. The young orange-haired girl looked up at him, obviously not impressed, "yes, what do you want?" she asked, in an exasperated tone of voice. Sasuke smiled, Kuroko had definitely inherited her mother's personality._

 _The youngest Uchiha cleared his throat, "hey Kuroko-Kun" he said with a wave. He'd found out long ago that the small girl preferred to be called by a male honorific, though he didn't know why. Oh well, if that's what made her happy. Kuroko waved back, "yes?" she said again, obviously expecting him to tell her his reasons for being there now. Sasuke nodded, "is there any chance I'd get to speak with your father for a moment?" he asked softly. The orange haired girl shook her head, making the dark red ribbon she wore flap around, "father is busy now, can you wait?" she asked, her tone slightly snappish. She wasn't the type of person who coveted patience as a virtue._

 _Sasuke shook his head, "I had an idea about how to wake Naruto up, so I was wondering if-" he was cut off as the small girl grabbed his arm and practically dragged him into the room, "if it was about Naruto, you could've just said so in the first place!" she exclaimed. Sasuke was shocked by the force the two year old was dragging him with. So shocked in fact, that he forgot to protest at the treatment he was being shown by the youngest Uzumaki sibling. Walking up to a door, Kuroko threw it open so that it banged against the wall._

 _Looking into the room, Sasuke saw that contained the Fourth Hokage as well as his wife. The two had obviously interrupted their conversation, and Sasuke blushed a little at the stare his leader was giving him. He straightened up from his hunched over position, (that he had been in because Kuroko had been dragging him, and she was much smaller than him.) The black-haired boy bowed respectfully, "Hokage-Sama, Kushina-San" the two smiled and bowed their heads, "Sasuke-Kun, is something the matter?"Minato asked. Sasuke opened up his mouth to speak, but he didn't get very far, (re: not being able to say anything else) before Kuroko interrupted again. Did this girl have no self control?_

" _Sasuke thinks he knows a way to wake Nii-Chan up, Dattebayo!"_ (yes, I know I made myself have no vocal tic, and instead had Kyo inherit it from Kushina, but he seemed more like her in personality, so, yeah) _Minato was up literally in an instant, with Kushina not far behind. "Yes, what?" he asked, and Sasuke was shocked that the normally calm and straight-faced leader was so impatient. But then again, he supposed it did have to do with his first-born son. Sasuke took a deep breath, "I'm afraid it may involve us having to go back to the Leaf Village on our own to begin with, Hokage-Sama"._

 _To Be Continued_


	20. Chapter 19

_**Chapter 19: Recap- part 3!**_

As the group travelled through the dessert, Sasuke continued telling Bethany about their adventures in waking her up. Flashback:

 _Upon arriving back in the Hidden Leaf Village, Minato went to his office, while Itachi went home to tell his parents what was going on and Sasuke headed to the Hot Springs in the village. From talks with Naruto, he knew that to be where the white-haired mega-pervert would be. When he got the bathes, the black-haired boy heard perverted giggling coming from the women's side. Walking around to the other side, Sasuke sweat-dropped. The man was staring through a hole in the fence with a spyglass to his eye, and giggling like mad, a perverted blush over his cheeks._

 _Taking a deep breath, Sasuke walked up behind him, "um, Jiriya-Sama?" he asked, nervously. "What is it, Gaki, I'm busy?" he asked quietly. Sasuke was starting to become angry, the man wouldn't even look at him! Smirking, the boy decided to use Naruto's new jutsu. Forming the signs for the Transformation jutsu, Sasuke whispered: "transform". Jiriya was still eyeing women on the other side of the fence in the water, when he heard a small, mouse-like voice behind him say: "Jiriya-Sama, do you like those girls more than me? Oh, how mean!"_

 _Turning around, the white-haired Sanin felt his eyes widen, and blood drip down from his nose. Standing behind him was a tall, well rounded, busty raven-haired girl. Her long luscious, black hair fell down her back, covering milky white skin, and- cheeks. Large, soft black eyes welled up with tears. But what really caught the pervert's attention, was the fact that this beautiful woman was completely naked! The only thing keeping the world from seeing what should never be seen by the public was a few thin wisps of white smoke. The self proclaimed Super-pervert fell backwards with a lecherous grin on his face, and was out cold in seconds._

 _Smirking to himself, Sasuke released the jutsu and walked towards the unconscious Sanin. 'Wow,' he thought, 'the Sexy Jutsu really is useful'. The small black-haired boy grabbed the Sanin, and threw the Flying Thunder God kunai that his Hokage had given him into the air, where it released a burst of Chakra. Suddenly, in the Yellow flash that the Fourth was famous for, Minato Namikaze appeared. Looking down at his Sensei, Minato nodded in approval, "well, Sasuke, that was fast work, I'm impressed" he said, a gentle grin spreading across his face. Sasuke smiled back, and nodded at his Boyfriends father, "thank you, Hokage-Sama" he said, happily._

 _Grabbing both the boy and Sanin, Minato teleported back to his office._

 _ **Ȑ**_

 _When Jiriya next woke up, he came face-to-face with his genius student and Hokage. Grinning lecturesly, Jiriya sat up on the couch he now realised he was lying on in the Hokage's office. "Hey Minato, guess what! You would not believe the gorgeous babe I saw at the hot springs today, she was absolutely-" "when I summon you Sensei, I expect you to come right away, especially if the summons in an urgent one" Minato interrupted icily. Jiriya stopped babbling and sat a little straighter, "yes, Hokage-Sama" he said, bowing his head. Minato sighed, "you're still as big a pervert as ever sensei" he said._

 _The Toad Sage looked up, "so," he said, crossing his arms, "what did you summon me for?" he asked. Minato's face became hard, and his blue eyes steely. "I'm assuming you already know that around a week ago now, myself, my family, and the two Uchiha boys travelled to the Hidden Sand Village?" at Jiriya's nod, Minato continued, "around a day after we had arrived, Naruto, and the Kazekage's youngest son were kidnapped by- an organization," Jiriya frowned, "this organisation wouldn't be the same one Orochimaru is a part of, would it?" he asked, his own eyes narrowing. Minato sighed, "I'm afraid so, Sensei, and, unfortunately, their leader is probably the same man who attacked the village four years ago on the night of Naruto's birth", he said darkly, folding his hands and lacing the fingers under his chin._

 _Jiriya's eyes widened, "no way, you don't really mean-?" the blond closed his eyes and lowered his head, "yes, the man behind that organisation, the attack by the Nine Tails on the village four years ago and the capture and torture of my son- is most likely Madara Uchiha" this revelation caused Sasuke, who had been listening quietly up until that point, to gasp in terror. Despite his young age, even he knew of Madara, and the fear his original Clan head inspired in everyone who heard of him. Minato and Jiriya turned to the boy who was standing a little off to the side. Minato frowned, oops. "Sasuke, I-" but the blond didn't get a chance to finish, for Sasuke had started speaking, "w-what do you mean it was Madara? Madera's dead, he died fighting the First Hokage decades ago, right?!" the boy asked, slight hysteria in his voice. The black-haired boy began to shake, terror obvious._

 _Minato flashed to the boys side, by way of the Flying Thunder God kunai he still had. "Shhh, it's alright, wherever he is now, he's gone, and we're safe," he held the boy he considered to be a son in his arms, trying to soothe the still shaking child. Tears fell down Sasuke's cheeks, "but," he said quietly, causing Minato and Jiriya to look down at the black-haired boy. The youngest son of the current head of the Uchiha looked up, sobbing quietly in his pseudo uncles arms, "but he hurt Naruto, and he's still suffering, even now, w-we have to do something, we have to save him!" he exclaimed quietly. Minato nodded, "yes I know, that was the reason that I asked you to bring Jiriya here," he explained. Both boy and sage blinked, uncomprehending. Minato smiled, "Jiriya Sensei is going to go get Tsunade and bring her back here. Then we're going to take her back to the Hidden Sand village so she can heal Naruto's mind, okay?" he asked, grinning._

 _Sasuke nodded, while Jiriya pouted, mumbling something about reckless Gaki God sons taking after their reckless Gaki fathers and taking up precious 'research' time. The white-haired sage walked up to them, "oh, alright Minato, I'll go and get Tsunade and bring her here, but only because it's Naruto we're talking about" he said, moodily. Minato smiled, "I thought you would agree, and you'd better not let my wife or Mikoto-San catch you either peeking on them, or teaching Sasuke anything perverted, you know how they can get" he said warningly. The mega-pervert just turned his back and waved unconcernedly at his former genius pupil, "yeah, yeah Gaki, I'll be careful" he said flippantly. Turning to Sasuke the man said, "alright, Kiddo, pack your things, say goodbye to whoever you want to, and meet me at the front gate in Twenty minutes" with that he disappeared in a Hidden Leaf shushin._

 _Sasuke sighed and turned to face his villages leader, "sometimes I wonder how a man like that can possibly teach anyone anything, let alone be one of the Three Legendary Sanin" Minato's lips twitched into the beginnings of a grin, "I wondered that too when I first started out under him, not out loud of course, but still," Sasuke sighed again, "well, I better get going and get home so I can pack my things and tell Kaa-San, Itachi and Tou-San" the boy bowed to Minato and walked out the door. The grin fell from Minato's lips as soon as the boy had left the room. "Should one of us go with them, Hokage-Sama?" asked a voice that the blond recognised as Itachi's. The Fourth thought about this for a moment, then gestured to the ceiling. Two shadows dropped down to the floor in front of Minato's desk. One was wearing the traditional ANBU attire for work within the leaf Village, that included a black robe that completely covered the rest of his body as well as a white mask that looked like the shape of a Weasel. The other was wearing the armour of an ANBU that was being sent on missions outside of the Village. He had spiky silver hair that stuck up and off to the side a little. His mask was decorated with the shape of a dog._

 _Minato looked at them sternly, "Kakashi, you will go and guard young Sasuke and Jiriya as extra support, Itachi, I know he is your younger brother, but there are certain reasons that I would like Kakashi to go and not you, one of which being your mother," Minato took a breath, then continued, "the last time you all left the Village, Naruto was kidnapped and put into the state he's in now, that would obviously have left a large amount of fear in Mikoto's heart, and now with Sasuke leaving the Village, however well protected, she's probably going to run herself ragged with worry," Itachi nodded, "so, as her oldest son, I feel that you should stay behind to comfort and provide emotional support to your mother, and if you like, I can make this into a special mission, just for you, alright?" he asked gently._

 _Itachi nodded, as he understood his Hokage's decision. Besides, Kakashi had more field experience than himself. The older of the two Uchiha siblings nodded, "alright Hokage-Sama, I'll stay". Minato smiled softly, "alright, you'd better get home now so you can say goodbye to your little brother, he mentioned you by name after all" Itachi bowed, and disappeared in a Hidden Leaf Shushin._

 _ **Ȑ**_

 _When Sasuke reached the front door to his house, he composed himself and opened the door. His mother was standing on the raised floor. When she saw Sasuke, she almost burst into tears, "you're back!" she exclaimed, running to hug the boy tight. Sasuke nodded, and tried to calm her down by stroking her back, "yes, don't worry, I'm okay Kaa-San," Mikoto continued to sob while her youngest son attempted to soothe her. Sasuke took a breath, what he was going to tell her, wasn't going to be easy. The boy smiled, "is Tou-San home?" he asked softly. Mikoto nodded, drying her eyes, "he's in the Living room" she said. Sasuke nodded and walked with his mother into the Living room, where he found his father and brother waiting for them._

 _Sasuke waited for his mother to sit down, before sitting down himself, "Tou-San, Kaa-San, Nii-San there's something I have to tell you," and he explained everything that had happened in the Hidden Sand Village, from Naruto and Gaara's kidnapping, to his decision to travel with Jiriya and find Tsunade so she could heal Naruto. Sasuke glanced at his father, silently begging him to allow him to go on this mission. Fugaku Uchiha wore his usual frown, and had his eyes closed with his arms crossed. The boy looked down, "please, father, I have to go," he said quietly, closing his eyes and bending his head in silent prayer, "please!" he whispered. Fugaku opened his eyes and stared at his youngest son._

" _You really care for Minato's son that much?" he asked in a monotone. Sasuke swallowed and nodded, looking up with fire burning in his eyes, "I do," he said in the most serious voice his four year old body could muster. His father stared at him a moment longer, then sighed, closing his eyes, "alright, you may go, but don't cause any trouble for those who you are travelling with, understand?" he asked. The boy smiled and nodded eagerly, "yes Tou-San, I understand" he said. The Uchiha clan head nodded, and dismissed him. Sasuke hugged his Mother again, and managed to talk Itachi into giving him a hug as well. Itachi Uchiha, while being more open with his kindness than the rest of his clan, was still fairly shy. After his mother had helped him pack, Itachi took his little brother aside._

" _This is for you, Sasuke," he said, handing the boy a long black sword, with the kanji for 'protect' on the hilt. Sasuke stared at it, then looked back up to his brother. Itachi smiled, "it was meant to be for you when you had graduated the academy, but since you seem to be travelling so much recently, I thought it would be easier to give it to you now" he explained, watching with a small smile as Sasuke gently removed the long, elegant blade from its sheath. "I know it's a little big and heavy, but it was meant for when you were a little bigger after all, if you like, once this whole mess is over, I could help you practice with it" he said. Sasuke diverted his eyes from his new sword, and grinned at his older brother._

 _After carefully replacing the blade, the boy hugged his big brother tightly, "thank you Itachi, I really appreciate everything you do for me," pulling out of the embrace, the black-haired child grinned a mischievous grin that he had learned from Naruto, "and I'll be sure to hold you to that training as well" he said. With a final wave to his family, the boy left his house and ran to the gate to meet up with Jiriya. 'Naruto,' he thought, 'I'll save you, I promise!'_

To Be Continued


	21. Chapter 20

_**Chapter 20: Recap- part 4!**_

The group coming back from the Hidden Sand Village walked over the hill and found their home spread out before them, looking as if they had never left it. As they walked into the Village, Sasuke continued his tale. Flashback:

 _After meeting up at the gate, Sasuke left with Jiriya. Looking behind them, the Toad Sage gave an imperceptible nod at Kakashi, or Dog. Turning back ahead, the man fond Sasuke looking at him with a strange expression on his face. The man frowned, "what's wrong, kiddo?" he asked. The black-haired boy blinked, "uh, nothing, sorry" he said, readjusting his pack and hurrying to catch up with the white haired lecturer. Jiriya shrugged, and looked forward again. A few minutes later Sasuke began to ask questions, "so, uh, what exactly is Tsunade-Sama like?" he asked._

 _Jiriya looked back at the small boy behind him, only just noticing the large black sword tied around his hip. Registering the question, the older man thought for a moment, "well, she's mean, grouchy, vain, selfish and completely addicted to gambling" he said, smiling as he remembered his old teammate, "but she's also one of the kindest people I've ever known, at least she is once someone's grown on her," he paused for a moment, then grinned and turned to face Sasuke, "and, she is the best medical ninja in the world, she'll be able to heal Naruto" he said warmly._

 _Sasuke smiled, "that's good" he said happily. Jiriya grinned, "by the way, Kiddo, I've been meaning to ask, what's with the large-ass sword attached to your hip?" he asked. Sasuke placed a hand on the hilt of his older brother's present, "Itachi gave it to me before I left, he said he'd had it specially made for me for when I became a Genin, but thought I might need it now" he explained, smiling. The Toad Sage grinned, "I see, and you know how to use that thing_ _ **without**_ _cutting your own arm off?" Sasuke blushed, "well, no, not yet, I mean, I only just got it, I don't know how to use it yet, but Nii-San said he'd teach me when we got back" he said. Jiriya nodded, "fair enough"._

 _ **Ȑ**_

 _They walked through the country-side for a few hours, before coming to a large town. "This is Tanzaku Town, it's got the most gambling halls out of anywhere, so I thought that this might be a good place to start looking" he explained. Sasuke nodded. While his guardian went off to flirt with girls, find information and rent them a hotel room, the boy wondered around the streets, looking at all the non-cassino shops that were clustered here and there. Passing a clothes shop, the boy paused. Then he entered. As he looked around at the selections of clothes, some particular ones caught his eye._

 _There was a Light grey long-sleeved shirt with black shorts and a dark grey sash tied around the waist to serve as a belt. One side of the sash was longer than the other and was tied at the left hand side of the outfit. The boy decided to buy this, and entered the dressing room to try it on- it fit perfectly. Walking out into the main shop wearing his new outfit, the boy payed for the clothes, and attached his sword to the longer end of the sash. He had to say it looked good on him. When he got home, Sasuke would ask his mother to sew the Clan crest onto the back of his shirt. Exiting the shop, Sasuke found that he was starving. So he went off in search of a place to eat._

 _Shortly finding a small Tea Shop, the boy ordered five rice balls and sat eating. He was concerned about Naruto, and could not help hating Madara for putting him into a state of eternal torture. Even so, Sasuke knew that was no match for someone like him. After finishing his meal, the boy payed for the food and left to find their hotel._

 _ **Ȑ**_

 _Sitting in the shadows of the roofs, Kakashi watched the young Uchiha walk through the streets, as he looked for any sign of his caretaker. He was impressed by his choice of clothes too. For being only four years old, the boy had the fashion sense of an adult. Sasuke was walking through the village, taking in all the sights while keeping a sharp eye out for the Toad Sage. Following as the boy decided to give up for the moment, he watched as Sasuke walked into a hotel near the edge of the Village._

 _After entering the hotel room that he shared with Jiriya, the boy placed his bag onto one of the beds, and left again with his sword, this time heading into the forest. The Dog-masked ANBU followed him as he went far enough into the trees that he wouldn't be interrupted, but close enough to the town that he wouldn't get lost. After finding a place that he deemed to be good enough, the boy drew his sword slowly from its sheath. Grasping the blade in numerous positions, Sasuke attempted to find the most comfortable way of holding the long blade for himself._

 _While Itachi hadn't said that he didn't want Sasuke actively practicing with his sword without his supervision, which Sasuke assumed he wouldn't want anyway, he also hadn't said anything about learning to hold the blade on his own. After a few attempts at trying to position the heavy blade so that he wouldn't topple over while holding it, Sasuke sheathed his sword, and started looking around the forest floor. This confused Kakashi, though he would never admit it out loud. What was the boy doing? After finding a long, but thin stick, Sasuke hurried back to the hotel, leaving a highly confused Dog-masked ANBU behind._

 _ **Ȑ**_

 _Jiriya was having a great time. He had found some beautiful ladies at a bar, and they had all had drinks, and were feeling ready to- "hey!" The white-haired Sage looked up. There, standing in front of him, and looking_ _ **very**_ _pissed off, was Sasuke. The boy was looking ready to kill, what with his red- blood shot eyes that had nothing to do with the Sharingan, and a furious expression on his face. "Ah- Sasu-Kun, I can explain-" he started, his mind and speech blurred due to alcohol. If possible, the kid became even angrier, "I don't want to hear any of your perverted excuses! We're supposed to be looking for Tsunade so she can heal Naruto! I thought you were going to go look for information on where she was, but instead I find you here, drunk as a log, hanging out with women, and doing nothing!" he screamed._

 _Sasuke continued to shout and scream, while Jiriya just looked on. The women who were previously sitting with him having moved away, to give them some space. As the Toad Sage watched, the black-haired boy began to cry, then sob, and finally, his cries were swallowed by screams of pain and anguish. Sasuke collapsed to the floor, sobbing. He felt so helpless. He wanted to help Naruto, his first friend, his best friend- but he couldn't without the help of Jiriya. And it seemed the pervert had no intention to actually help the blond. When he was finally done, the Toad Sage moved over to the boy, who was now beginning to calm down. Placing a hand on Sasuke's back, he soothed: "hey, I'm sorry, kiddo, okay? I promise, we will help that blond Gaki, even if we have to scour the globe for Tsunade, alright?" he asked softly._

 _Sasuke nodded, wiping his tears. When he looked back at the older man, Jiriya grinned, "alright then, let's get back to the Hotel, get some food, and go to bed, we have a big day tomorrow after all" The boy smiled slightly and nodded, cheering up a little. The white-haired Sanin was right, they had a big day tomorrow._

 _To Be Continued_


	22. Chapter 21

_**Chapter 21: Recap- part 5!**_

As Bethany and Sasuke walked together through their home village, Sasuke explained what happened next. Flashback:

 _(Sasuke's POV)_

 _It has been one day since we arrived in this town. Jiriya has been going around and trying to find out any information on Tsunade. Thankfully he hasn't gotten drunk again since I yelled at him the day before. He has assured me that Tsunade will be in this town, her gambling obsession won't allow her to pass it by. The only questions of course, is when and where. I sighed, looking down at the ground. I had been trying to take a walk through the forest and explore, but I just can't seem to stop thinking about Naruto. Once he's awake, I'm sure I'll feel a lot better. But still._

 _What if the man that tortured Naruto really is Madara? After all, the guy was so strong, only the first Hokage was able to stop him. Not even Hashirama's brother, who became the second Hokage, could stop that mad man. That didn't mean that he wasn't proud of his- (well, what was he? He read stories about boys and girls being together, and his mother had told him about the special kind of love that he might have. Maybe- boyfriend? No, too, old. Maybe when they were older. Hmm, well, Naruto was his best friend as well, so) best friend, of course he was To be able to fight a guy even his father had trouble with one-on-one and hold his own, even if it was only for a little while, was something to be proud of. I sighed again, really hoping that things would work out. Looking up, I noticed that I had walked into the gambling section of town by mistake._

 _I look around quickly, knowing that if I stay for too long, I'll probably get in trouble with the resident drunks. Just as I find a path to run back to the respectable side of town, I hear a voice from behind me call out: "hey, look at that, a baby brat, I wonder if he has any money on him!" I whirl around, to find two large and heavily muscled men standing behind me. Gritting my teeth, I pull out my sword and hold it as confidently as I can, "y-you two better leave me alone, I mean it, if my big brother ever heard that I got hurt, h-he would hunt you down and b-b-beat you within an inch of your lives!" I said, unable to stop the quiver of fear from entering my voice._

 _The two men smirked, "oh, really, I wonder if this big brother of yours is as tough as you, baby brat?" one of them sneered. Suddenly, too fast for my eyes to see, he has me pinned against the wall, with my sword under my chin. I whimper as the deadly blade slices through the skin on my neck, drawing a small amount of blood. Damn, I really mucked things up this time, and now I'm going to die by my own sword! "Hey, why don't you pick on someone your own size!" someone called from behind the man. He looks over his shoulder, and I do the same. Standing there, with the other large man lying in front her on the ground and writhing in pain, is a women with blond hair, tied in two low pony tails, wearing a grey kimono under a green coat._

 _Standing behind her and to the side is a short girl, around twelve years old, with shoulder length black hair and matching coloured eyes. She was wearing a long black kimono with white along the edges, a white bandage-like obi, along with a fishnet under-shirt. The eyes of the man who was holding me widened, when he noticed his partner knocked out cold on the ground. Despite appearing to be afraid, the man held me up, sword still far too close to my neck for comfort, "n-not so fast, the only way you can save the baby brat is to give me all your money!" he exclaimed, surprisingly only stuttering once._

 _Remembering that Naruto had fought Madara Uchiha when captured by the Akatski, I summoned up my courage. Bringing my foot backward, I kicked the older man in the place that hurts the most. As the thug doubled over in pain, I grabbed my swords sheath, and gave the man one almighty wack in the head. Now, being as the sheath was metal, the larger man should have been knocked right into unconsciousness when it hit. There was just one problem with this. The sheath didn't hit. The larger man caught it in his right hand, and went to punch me in the face. Closing my eyes, I braced myself and waited for the pain. Instead of pain, I heard the soft 'thump' of flesh hitting flesh. Daring to open my eyes, relief washed through me when seeing the face of the person who saved me._

 _It was Jiriya, holding the fist back, and looking furious, if the storm passing across his face had anything to say about his mood. As the toad sage thoroughly beat the larger man, the woman and girl came up to me. The blond, seeing the blood, promptly handed my treatment over to the black-haired girl. The twelve year old smiled at me reassuringly, "sorry," she said, "Tsunade-Sama doesn't really like blood, I hope you don't mind me healing you?" she asked, gently lifting my chin to see the extent of the wound. I blinked, Tsunade-Sama? Turning to look at the female blond, I smiled inwardly, we'd found her!_

 _ **Ȑ**_

 _Sitting in a resuraunt, Sasuke stared at the blond haired woman out of the corner of his eye. She was sitting and staring at Jiriya, giving him deadly glares. The toad sage looked away and tried to ignore the kunai-like eyes which were currently attempting to bore holes in the side of his head. So she was Tsunade-Sama. The pervert had never mentioned the fact that she was scared of blood. Oh well, it's not like Naruto's injury was physical anyway. Tsunade looked down at her glass, then she suddenly slammed it down on the surface of the table._

" _What's this all about Jiriya, why were you trying so hard to find me and who's the brat?" she asked angrily. Sasuke seethed, he was_ _ **not**_ _a brat, damn it! Jiriya sighed, "we were trying to find you because of something that happened while Minato, his family, and the two Uchiha brothers, Sasuke over their being the younger of the two," here he gestured to Sasuke, who waved shyly when the Slug Sanin turned her face to him, "were visiting the Hidden Sand Village" he finished_ _._

 _The blond woman narrowed her eyes, "what happened in the Sand Village?" she asked, calming down slightly. The next half an hour was spent with Jiriya retelling the story he had been told by Minato. Tsunade listened quietly throughout the whole thing. When the tale was finished, Tsunade crossed her arms, "huh, so the brat went and got himself put into a coma, figures he'd be just as reckless as his father, if you ask me anyone who wants to or has become Hokage is nothing but an idiotic fool, who deserves everything he gets," with every word Sasuke was getting angrier. While he was by no means a Hokage worshiper, thinking that those who were given the title were gods who could do no wrong, he still loved his village._

 _Not only that, but she was disrespecting Naruto! "only an idiot would risk his life like that, and you know what they say, like father like son-" Sasuke couldn't stand it anymore. Such was his rage that when he slammed his glass down on the table, it actually smashed apart. Whirling around to face Tsunade, he pointed an accusing finger at her, "who do you think you are, deciding what someone is and isn't, Naruto_ _ **will**_ _be Hokage, and he is no idiot, he truly loves the village just like his father, and he_ _ **will**_ _become great!" he cried in anger. Jiriya stared dumbstruck at the boy. He never would have imagined_ Sasuke _of all people to be the type to go off like that. He shrugged, it must be because they were talking about Naruto._

 _Tsunade stood up, it was obvious she was slightly drunk by the rosy colour of her cheeks. Leaning over towards Sasuke she smirked, "I don't like your tone little boy, why don't we take this outside". Sasuke narrowed his eyes into a glare, "gladly" he said, shoving his chair back roughly so it grated against the stone floor. The black-haired girl, Shizune looked scared, while Jiriya sighed deeply and placed his hand against his forehead. If Sasuke was seriously injured, who knew what Minato would do to him, not to mention Naruto, Mikoto and Itachi._

 _Sighing again in defeat, the white-haired Toad Sage got up and left after the others, if only to make sure Tsunade didn't harm the boy too badly._

 _ **Ȑ**_

 _Standing in front of the bar, Sasuke glared at the blond woman in front of him. She was defiantly going to pay. He was the second fastest out of everyone in his age group, with only Naruto being faster. Granted, he didn't know the limit of the Slug Sanin's abilities, but being around his young prodigy of a best friend, not to mention his genius older brother had taught him to never, ever underestimate your opponent, weather they were an enemy or an ally. So, no matter how strong or fast he was, he was not going to underestimate her._

 _Thinking over his options, he decided that it hadn't been such a great idea to take on one of the Legendary Sanin when he wasn't even in the Academy yet. But, after everything, he wasn't just going to back out now, after all, he_ _ **did**_ _have a reputation to keep. Suddenly, Tsunade disappeared. Looking around wildly for his opponent, he didn't notice that she had appeared behind him. Tapping the heel of her shoe on the ground, the earth suddenly split apart, trapping Sasuke's left leg, and brining him down to his knees._

 _While the boy furiously tried to pick himself back up without breaking his lower leg off, the blond medical ninja behind him whipped out a kunai, and, before Sasuke knew it, had the deadly blade held to the back of his head. The young Uchiha felt the air displacement and froze. Then he heard Tsunade's voice, "give up," she smirked from behind the downed child, "boy" Sasuke grit his teeth. His Uchiha pride was telling him not to give up, to never stop fighting until he was dead. But then, he'd never get to see Naruto again, and if he did die, he wanted it to be on the battlefield, in the blonds arms, (well, he gets his wish, doesn't he, 'hint, hint') so, sighing deeply, Sasuke held up one hand, "Fine, I surrender!"_

 _The kunai disappeared from his neck and the blond medic walked away. "Hey, I'm kind of stuck here, a little help would be appreciated!" he shouted at her retreating back. Jiriya and Shizune ran over from the sidelines, "don't worry Sasuke-Kun, we'll get you out" the black haired apprentice said, and began working on the earth around the boy's leg, with the toad Sage's help. Once he was free, the two made sure the boy's leg and foot weren't broken, before helping him up. "You okay, Kiddo?" Jiriya asked, seeing the furious expression on the boys face. Sasuke tore is arm away from the Toad Sages grasp, "I'm fine, I just need some time by myself" he said, his eyes downcast._

 _Before anymore could be said, the young Uchiha turned and ran as fast as he could go. Shizune called out to him worriedly: "ah, Sasuke-Kun, be careful!" but the young Uchiha was already too far away to hear the pre-teens words. His cheeks burned and tears of shame fell down his cheeks as he ran. The boy just couldn't understand why he felt so angry for being beaten by the blond woman._

 _To Be Continued_


End file.
